


after

by i_was_human



Category: EXO (Band), Marvel Cinematic Universe, TXT (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bittersweet Ending, Crying, Cute Park Jimin (BTS), Cynical, Cynicism, Depression, EXO HAS A BIG ROLE, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Hurt Park Jimin (BTS), Hurt/Comfort, Kim Taehyung | V & Park Jimin are Best Friends, No Slash, Not Canon Compliant, Oh My God, Park Jimin (BTS)-Centric, Platonic Relationships, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-snap, Rapper Park Jimin (BTS), Reunions, TXT is here too, Team as Family, Temporary Character Death, There's a lot of crying, Worried Bangtan Boys, entirely too much exo in the first chapter, everything is platonic, gratuitous references to stars, he's absolutely pure, jimin is a straight-up nihilist, not tagging everyone bc i dont wanna flood their tags, oh my god im dragging the entire known universe into this, people change, txt needs more love okay, well were, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:37:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 31,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19943281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human
Summary: There's a soft tap on his wrist, and he opened his eyes to see a video playing on the screen nearby. It's their performance, all of them on-stage. Jimin felt his lips curl into a smile as he watched their dance, a familiar and soothing practice.It led into the rap interlude, and Jimin waited for them to walk off-stage, to dart away, an attempt to scare him. But no.They dissolve.Seokjin and Yoongi were the first to go, falling to their knees as they disappeared into dust. Hoseok noticed, reaching out for the others as he dissolved, and Namjoon held Jungkook as they disappeared. Taehyung reached for Jimin, mouth opening in a silent plea for help as his hand dissolved, then the rest of him.Jimin stared at the black screen, uncomprehending. "What...?" he finally asked, confusion evident. "What... what is this? Is this... real?"The interviewer stared at him, gaze soft and sad. "I'm sorry," he finally stated, and Jimin felt something deep inside him shatter. "They're... they're gone."(A story about losing one family and finding another)





	1. before

The world fell apart in one moment.

They'd all put their hands in before going on-stage (and why wouldn't they?) and done their chant, the roars of the crowd outside as familiar and regular as a heartbeat. Jimin had felt strangely afraid - a darkly ironic premonition - and Taehyung had pressed their foreheads together right before they went out.

"It'll be okay," he'd promised, their hands linked and the friendship bracelets the group shared knocking against each other. "We're just going out to perform!"

And Jimin had stared at him, then - bright blue hair, playful smile - and committed the moment to memory, despite not knowing why. A sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, perhaps.

Taehyung had grabbed his hand and led him on-stage, and for a moment, the stage lights were blinding. The crowd's roars were familiar, and he caught the other's gazes for just a second before the stage personas slipped on.

The opening to Boy With Luv began, and the usual exhilaration coming from the stage was present, as it always was, but at the same time, there was something integrally _wrong_ about it. As though there was a hidden energy humming just under words, as though something bad was about to happen. A tsunami about to hit land, the massive wave looming over the small inhabitants of the town, casting them in its shadow. 

And Jimin _felt_ it.

It was right before Yoongi's rap interlude - a change to the air. It felt heavier, somehow. Darker. _Emptier_.

The fans were still screaming, but now it didn't seem like joy or excitement. No, this felt like sheer _panic_. Jimin didn't quite understand what was going on, but waited for Yoongi to start his lines.

It never happened.

Ignoring every rational part of his mind and all of his training ("no matter what, follow the choreo, Jimin!") he spun, because he was _just that worried_ , goddammit. Yoongi hadn't started his lines, and he'd only _not_ do that if something was incredibly wrong.

As it turned out, it wasn't because something was wrong _outside_ , it was because Yoongi and the others simply weren't on-stage.

"Huh?" he wondered aloud, and it must have been caught by the mic, because the fans only screamed louder. Somehow, it sounded... emptier. As if there were less fans now than there were just a minute ago, which was crazy, wasn't it?

Dust swirled around his feet, and he pressed a hand to his mouth, screwing his eyes shut. He raced off-stage, ripping off the mic pack and searching the area in a frenzy for his missing bandmates, since they must have gone _somewhere_ , right? People don't just disappear into thin air.

"Guys?" he called, eyes wide in terror. "Guys?"

Someone came up to him, dressed in all black - security, then - and escorted him... somewhere. His ears rang, and he belatedly realized he'd forgotten to take out his earpiece, so he tucked it in his pocket in hopes of keeping it safe. They'd need to go back on-stage, wouldn't they?

"Where is everyone?" he asked, voice sounding _far_ too small for comfort. "What happened?"

They took him to a booth, where an interviewer sat, eyes wide. Oh _god_ , he can't do an interview right now. Namjoon's not here, and he _definitely_ can't speak English well enough to pull this off. Where are the others?

"Where are they?" he tried, unsure of how well people could understand his choppy English. "What... happened?"

There're cameras trained on him, and he felt _far_ too small and exposed, just one part of seven, and he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to provide some modicum of comfort. "What happened?"

The interviewer started to talk to the camera in rapid-fire English, too fast for him to understand, and he resigned himself to the fact that someone wasn't telling him something. He instead chose to squeeze his eyes shut, counting his breaths.

There's a soft tap on his wrist, and he opened his eyes to see a video playing on the screen nearby. It's their performance, all of them on-stage. Jimin felt his lips curl into a smile as he watched their dance, a familiar and soothing practice. 

It led into the rap interlude, and Jimin waited for them to walk off-stage, to dart away, an attempt to scare him. But no.

They _dissolve_.

Seokjin and Yoongi were the first to go, falling to their knees as they disappeared into dust. Hoseok noticed, reaching out for the others as he dissolved, and Namjoon held Jungkook as they disappeared. Taehyung reached for Jimin, mouth opening in a silent plea for help as his hand dissolved, then the rest of him.

Jimin stared at the black screen, uncomprehending. "What...?" he finally asked, confusion evident. "What... what is this? Is this... real?"

The interviewer stared at him, gaze soft and sad. "I'm sorry," he finally stated, and Jimin felt something deep inside him shatter. "They're... they're gone."

He hunched over, squeezing his eyes shut and gripping his arms as though his life depended on it. "No..." he whispered, slipping back into Korean at the horrifying reality of the situation sinking in. "No. This isn't real, this _can't_ be real, no, no, _no_ -"

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he resisted the urge to wipe them off, fully aware of the makeup still covering his face. How could this have happened? How did this happen?

"Why...?" he finally whispered, and the interviewer continued to stare at him, unsure. 

"We don't know," he simply replied. 

"They did... they did nothing wrong..." he sobbed. "Please... please, please take me instead... not them..."

* * *

His mind continues to play the conversation on loop, taunting him with each repetition. If he'd only said something, if he'd told someone, if they hadn't gone on-stage... but it's a moot point, isn't it? He's seen the reports.

Half the human population wiped out.

It's such a huge number that his brain can't process it fully. Half the population.

And his friends were part of that.

He hasn't received any calls since making it back to the hotel. From what he hears, almost all of BigHit management got snapped. He received some frenzied texts from some of the TXT members, but couldn't bring himself to reply. 

He instead opens his group chat.

Nobody's posted anything, but he doesn't want to think about that. He instead fires off a quick message, trying to ignore the fact that his parents didn't pick up when he called, and rests his head against the pillow, fighting back tears.

A voice floats through the door, and Jimin flinches, squeezing a pillow to his chest and wincing when some makeup rubs off on it.

"Jimin-ah? It's Sejin."

"Oh, Manager-nim," Jimin mumbles, making some sort of half-hearted "come-in" gesture with his hand. "The door's unlocked."

His manager pushes open the door, scanning the room with clearly mounting concern. "Jimin-ah..." he whispers, noticing the shattered glass, piles of clothes, and general status of the room. 

"It was like this before..." Jimin whispers. "I'm sorry... about all this."

Sejin sighs, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Jimin-ah, you have nothing to be sorry for. There's nothing you could have done."

"But..." Jimin trails off, burying his face in the pillow. "I should have done something."

"What could you have done?" Sejin asks, and Jimin shakes his head.

"I know there's not actually, but... I _should have_ done something," Jimin insists. "I should have... there must have been _something_ I could have done..."

"Don't blame yourself," Sejin mumbles. "It's not your fault."

"But I..."

"It'll be fine," Sejin assures him. "We're heading back to Korea tomorrow. But... nobody actually got this, so..."

He reaches into a bag and places the two trophies on the table - both of their awards.

It suddenly becomes incredibly tough to breathe.

Jimin laughs, hoarse and bordering on hysterical. "I guess we're not really the best group, are we?" he muses, mostly to himself. "Considering they're..."

He can't say it. It's as if saying it makes it real, and he'd sell his soul to stop this from being real.

"...dead..." Sejin finishes for him.

There's a long and weighted silence in the room, broken only by Jimin's occasional sniffles. Finally, he lifts his phone and opens Twitter, snapping a photo with a smile as good as he can muster. Once he's done, he captions it "still fighting, love you army" and posts it, breaking down as soon as it goes through.

"Best social artist, huh?" he whispers, a crumpled copy of a smile crossing his face. "I can do that, at least..."

Sejin rakes his hands through his hair, apparently at a loss. "When we get back, management is going to want you to work a lot harder," he informs him, and Jimin barks a laugh.

"Seven times harder, right?" he asks, in a manner that doesn't make it a question. "I'll do it, but just so... just so people don't forget about us."

Sejin winces, the wound still fresh. "They won't forget about you, Jimin-ah-"

"They won't forget about _me_ ," Jimin clarifies, voice devoid of emotion. "Not after that debacle on live television. I don't want them to forget about the _group_. And if it takes thousands of solo albums, if it takes collaborations with everyone under the sun, if it takes... if it takes leaving myself behind, I'll do it. Because they need something to come back to."

Sejin stares at him, eyes wide with silent understanding. "If you're sure," he finally replies, moving to stand near the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jimin-ah."

"I hope so," Jimin smiles.

There's something about having your world fall out from under you that's jarring. You don't realize it for the first few days, but once it truly sets in, it comes with a vengeance. 

Somehow, it comes from a simple text in their group chat.

_Jonginie-hyung: Jimin-ah... I'm so sorry..._

He buries his face in his pillow and wails, tears streaming down his face as he lets out his pent-up emotions.

What now?

* * *

The first thing he does once he's back in Korea is to get very, very, _very_ drunk.

He's on his fifth or sixth bottle, the empty ones lined up on the table in a triangle. It no longer burns going down, a comfortable numbness spreading through his body.

It's a welcome change from the hurt, a welcome change from the hurt coiled in his stomach and threatening to rear its head at any given moment. The television is playing in the background, nothing but white noise. 

_"There is no excuse_ _,"_ one of the Avengers states, and Jimin tightens his grip around the neck of his bottle. _"Thanos did... exactly what he said he would."_

"No thanks to you," he growls.

It's like a wave sweeping over him, hot and thick, and suddenly he can't breathe. It has to stop. He has to make it stop.

His fist connects with the television screen, and fragments of glass arc through the air. Small diamonds. They're interspersed with crimson droplets, and Jimin _knows_ he should feel something, but he's comfortably buzzed and the hurt is _back_ , dammit, and he doesn't want to feel anymore.

He staggers back to the couch and collapses, body shaking with painful sobs. It's a wound that never seems to scab over, because if they were here, he wouldn't have done this. If they were here, Yoongi would bandage his bleeding hands and feet, Namjoon would be lingering by the door, banned from glass, Jungkook and Taehyung would be comforting him, Seokjin would be making him food, and Hoseok would be cleaning up the whole mess with a smile on his face.

He misses them so much it _hurts_.

" _Why_ ," he sobs, a single word, a single question that's doomed to never be answered. It's not fair, not fair that the world shut out such bright stars, six stars that should have been supernovas, just... winking out. Blinking out. 

It _hurts_.

His phone buzzes, and he reaches out for it, not particularly caring that blood smears over the screen. It's his group chat with Jongin, Taemin, Moongyu, Kwonho, and Sungwoon.

_Jonginie-hyung: is anyone in seoul right now?_

_Jonginie-hyung: someone pls respond_

_Jonginie-hyung: ngl this is sorta scary_

_Jonginie-hyung: has anyone heard from jimin at all?_

_Jonginie-hyung: he texted earlier but chanyeol-hyung and i havent heard from him_

_Jonginie-hyung: pls someone respond_

_Jonginie-hyung: im really scared guys are you okay?_

_Jonginie-hyung: this feels like back when we didn't hear from taemin oh no_

_Jonginie-hyung: taemin pls text us if you're okay_

_Jonginie-hyung: jimin if you can see this chanyeol-hyung and i are coming over_

_Moongyu-hyung: jongin i'm fine_

_Moongyu-hyung: i haven't heard from anyone else_

_Moongyu-hyung: but taemin..._

_Moongyu-hyung: it's already online_

_Jonginie-hyung: fuck_

_Moongyu-hyung: i dont think we should expect kwonho and sungwoon_

_Jonginie-hyung: no no no they're fine_

_Jonginie-hyung: they have to be fine_

_Jonginie-hyung: jimin open the fucking door or i will break it down_

Jimin drags his gaze over to the door, where he can hear loud thuds reverberating through the living room. He sighs, returning to reading the messages.

_Jonginie-hyung: fuck he's not opening it_

_Jonginie-hyung: oh god_

_Jonginie-hyung: i'm going to break down the door_

_Moongyu-hyung: do not_

_Jonginie-hyung: i am going to break down the door_

_Jonginie-hyung: if jimin doesn't open it in the next five seconds_

He would open the door if walking didn't feel like standing on knives. Jimin sighs, reaching out for the bottle and taking a long swig. It doesn't burn going down, and a comfortable numbness begins to settle yet again.

It's calming, really.

_Jonginie-hyung: okay_

_Jonginie-hyung: im breaking down the fucking door_

_Moongyu-hyung: you can try???_

_Jonginie-hyung: chanyeol-hyung and i are worried okay_

It seems as if they are, in fact, going to break down the door. At least, they will if the shuddering wood and panicked shouts from outside have anything to say about it.

The door breaks, and splinters fly across the floor. Jimin screws his eyes shut, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Everything hurts, he's cold, and just _tired_. 

"Jiminie!" Jongin shouts, and there's a sharp inhale when he catches sight of the blood on the floor. "Jimin, where are you?"

He tilts his head slightly, eyes sliding open as much as he can manage. He feels both too much and not enough at the same time, and it's all so _cold_...

"Oh, fuck, fuck, _fuck_ ," Jongin chants, and Jimin can see the EXO member's shadowy form tugging at his hair. "Jimin!"

"Jonginie-hyung?" he rasps, and Jongin flinches, racing across the room and coming to a stop just behind the couch.

"Jiminie!" he exclaims, and there's undeniable worry in his gaze. "Oh no, Jimin!"

Chanyeol crosses the room in a few quick strides, and the both of them stare at him. There's probably glass in his knuckles and feet, and he smells like beer and exhaustion.

"Chanyeol-hyung, can you grab some of his clothes?" Jongin asks, and Chanyeol nods, darting out of Jimin's line of sight. "Hey, Jiminie, I'm going to pick you up, okay?"

Jimin nods, and warm hands slide under his back, lifting him into the air. He inhales - clean and warm - and Jongin reaches up to cup his head.

"Your hyungs are here," Jongin whispers, voice shaking. "We're here, Jiminie."

Jimin hums, curling into the warmth. He's just so cold, so hurt, and so _tired_.

_Jonginie-hyung: i found him hes okay_

_Moongyu-hyung: thank you_

* * *

Jimin wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, with half-familiar voices floating through the room. His head pounds something _awful_ , and he groans as he rolls to a seat. 

"We can't just _keep_ him here. He's one of the biggest artists in the _world_."

"But... you've seen him. He looks like... he looks _dead_." That's Jongin, then.

"We should keep him! I mean... he looks so _broken_..."

"Sehun... Jongin... you know we can't legally keep him here. That's kidnapping."

"But... I talked to his manager. We're allowed to keep him here. As long as we don't hurt him, and as long as he still talks with his manager."

Jimin rakes a hand through his hair and swings his legs off the bed, exhaustion evident. "What's going on?" he mumbles, pushing open the door.

He comes face-to-face with eight wide-eyed idols.

"Jiminie!" Jongin exclaims after an awkward silence. "Hi! You're awake!"

"Jongin-hyung?" Jimin mutters, rubbing his eyes. "Where am I?"

"You're at EXO's dorm," a blond states. "I'm Minseok, but you probably know me as Xiumin."

Jimin nods, still uncomprehending. "Yeah. I'm... I'm Jimin from BTS. I know you guys. Yeah."

One of them - Junmyeon, he thinks - places a comforting hand on Jimin's shoulder. "Jongin and Chanyeol brought you in last night. We already called your manager, and he said it's okay for you to stay here for a bit. And I don't think Jongin and Chanyeol plan to let you _leave_ , so..."

"I'm being held captive?" Jimin squeaks, and Jongin laughs. 

"No, it's just... well, yes," he grins. "But we're not gonna hurt you! You can still talk with your manager and everything, we just... don't want you to be alone."

"That sounds... okay..." Jimin trails off, gaze taking on a dark sort of distance. "I don't know what Seokjin-hyung will..."

He bites his lip and stares into the ground, a tear slipping out of his eye. "Ah... Seokjinnie-hyung... I forgot... I just..."

He swipes at the tears rolling down his cheeks, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to stop their flow. "He's... and they're... how could I forget? I just... I miss them... I'm sorry I'm such a crybaby, I just... I really miss them... and that's stupid, isn't it? I shouldn't, shouldn't be crying... not when... not when everyone else is hurting the same way... it's just... I miss them so much..."

Jongin wraps him in a hug, and Jimin clenches his hands into fists, noting the gauze wrapped around his palms. "I'm sorry... I'm not even... not even a part of EXO, and you guys have to put up with me..."

"Ah, Jiminie..." Jongin whispers. "You can stay with us as long as you'd like. We're happy to help you."

"B-But..." Jimin protests, body shaking with sobs. "I just... I'm not a part of EXO... and you all have work to do..."

"The world basically went on hiatus," one of the members (Baekhyun, he thinks) informs him, and a second set of arms wraps around him from behind. "We're happy to help you, Jimin-ssi."

"Just Jimin is fine," he sniffs, a small smile crossing his face. "Thank you, Baekhyun-sunbaenim."

The man laughs, tousling Jimin's hair playfully. "Just Baekhyun-hyung is fine!"

"Whenever someone calls me sunbaenim, I feel old," Minseok grouses, and a black-haired man fixes him with a lethal stare.

"You are old, hyung," he teases, and Minseok grins. Jimin somehow feels as though he's intruding on something here.

"Group hug!" Jongin insists, and the eight members pile in (some with more reluctance than others) around Jimin. He sobs, burying his head in his hands, but it's undeniably comforting nonetheless. 

Somehow, this feels okay.

* * *

He's on his third week in the dorms when Yixing arrives.

He's cooking with Kyungsoo (surprisingly, he's not awful) when the door opens, and he jumps nearly a mile.

Kyungsoo quirks a brow upon seeing his panic, and when it becomes clear it's not going to subside, adds, "it's just Yixing-hyung."

Jimin shakes his head, clearing a mental fog, and places the knife back on the table. Walking still hurts a bit, but Jongin's help with the tweezers (which _really_ hurt) made a world of difference.

"Welcome back!" Baekhyun chirps, and Jimin hears a vaguely familiar voice float in from the foyer.

"Ah, it's been _years_ ," the man sighs. "Wait, whose shoes are these?"

"Um..." Jimin mutters, sliding into the room. "Hi-"

A shoe slams into his face. One of his own, if he's not mistaken.

"Ow," Jimin whines, moving to place the shoe back on the floor. "Yixing-sunbaenim, that hurt..."

The brown-haired man stares at him, confusion evident. "Who is this?" he finally asks.

"Jiminie!" Jongin chirps, racing into the room with all the prowess of someone whose friend is in an incredibly awkward situation. "Ah, you already met Yixing-hyung! Yixing-hyung, this is Park Jimin, from Bangtan Sonyeondan! He's staying with us for a bit!"

Jimin waves awkwardly, trying very hard to not look crazy. "Hi. I'm, um. Park Jimin. Jongin made me, um. Stay here."

"He's our most precious dongsaeng," Jongin continues, and Jimin would very much like to die now, please and thank you. "He's soft and precious and pure and he is staying."

"Nice to meet you, Jimin," Yixing states, offering a hand to the younger. "Please, just Yixing-hyung. I'm not really your sunbae..."

"Alright!" Jimin chirps, taking the hand and shaking with gusto. "It's an honor to meet you!"

Yixing swears in Chinese, a bright smile on his face. "You're so soft," he finally remarks, and Jimin laughs, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm not... thank you," he replies, and Jongin shoots the elder a shit-eating grin. 

"What'd I tell you?" he murmurs, mirth in his voice. "You don't not love this."

Yixing swears again, running a hand through his hair. "Alright. We're keeping him."

Kyungsoo pokes his head out of the kitchen, a spoon in his grasp. "Do you want to help?" he asks, and Jimin beams, skipping across the floor to snatch it.

"Of course, Kyungsoo-hyung!" he exclaims, and behind him, someone coos. 

He opts to help Kyungsoo cook instead of dwelling on the possibility of nine overprotective hyungs, not when it sends pain and longing shooting through his chest.

* * *

"We'd like you to produce as a solo artist."

Jimin keeps the smile on his face, even as the management informs him of his future. "Bangtan Sonyeondan is going on indefinite hiatus, though we'd like you to continue to produce music. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he simply replies. "I'll keep creating, though... I can't really write music. I've never been good at it."

The management confers for a moment, until they apparently reach a decision. "You're currently living with the SM group EXO, aren't you?" one asks.

"Yeah..." he trails off, not liking where this conversation is going. "I'd like to continue to live with them, if that's at all possible."

"This may be an unorthodox solution," another adds, "but what if you were to co-produce a series of albums with EXO, while they help you create some solo works?"

"That's possible?" Jimin asks, quirking a brow. "Wouldn't I have to be an official member of EXO for that to work?"

"The world changed," a third states in lieu of an explanation. "As long as SM is alright with this."

Jimin beams, anticipation evident. "Yes! I'd love to do that! As long as I can stay a member of Bangtan Sonyeondan, I'll do whatever it takes!"

He's sent home after that (and it's strange, isn't it, the way the EXO dorms are home?) as they wait to hear from management. Jongin distracts him with video games, and though each laugh feels like stepping on glass (he used to do this with Taehyung and Jungkook) he's still happy. Stupidly, horribly, traitorously happy. 

(How _dare_ you be happy, Park Jimin, you _liar_. Did you care about them at all?)

(Yes, he'll tell himself. He cares, cares so _damn_ much. It's just... not real yet.)

(Will it ever be real, Park Jimin?)

(Yes, he'll lie to himself. Someday, he'll be able to believe the other members aren't pranking him, aren't just tricking him horribly to the point where it's not funny whatsoever. Someday. Not today, but someday)

The call finally comes in, and Junmyeon delivers the news with a smile and open arms. And well, if Jimin tackles him in a hug, that's just between him and his memories, isn't it?

* * *

It becomes real the day he finishes the last song.

The album itself is fairly positive, except for this song. This one is melancholy, sad and empty, a soft piano the only accompaniment to his soft vocals. It's empty, lonely, and it brings to mind swirling dust on an empty stage.

"They'd be so proud of you," Chanyeol assures him, and Jimin just. Snaps.

It brings to mind late-night studio sessions with Yoongi, working on Lie. Brings to mind plates piled high as he takes them out of the studios, draping blankets over his overworked hyungs. Brings to mind his bets with Taehyung about how much longer it'd take for Yoongi to finish his mixtape (which then turned out to be incredible, so he had the last laugh). Brings to mind him and Seokjin cooking breakfast for a sleep-deprived Rap Line, having spent the night at the studio. Brings to mind watching Jungkook work with Yoongi on Begin, and thinking about how _proud_ he was of their golden maknae.

Before he can process it, he's on the floor, bawling his eyes out and hugging himself as tightly as he can, because they're _dead_ , they are _dead_ and _gone_ , they're not coming back, and _fuck_ , it hurts. A reopening of an old wound, barely scabbed over, because he shouldn't be doing this with Chanyeol, he should be doing this with Yoongi, or Namjoon. He should be doing this with _his_ family, not EXO. 

" _Why_?" he whispers, the same haunting question in the dust-filled air. "Why, why, why them? They never, they never hurt _anyone_. They were, they were such good people, hyung. I, I miss them... I miss them so much..."

His voice is raw and hoarse, and tears stream down his cheeks as sobs shake his lithe frame. "Why? Why... why not me? Why... why am I still here?"

"I'm here," Chanyeol whispers. "And you are... frankly incredible, Park Jimin. An entire album. Nine songs. _You_ did that. I was just here for support and consul. You have so much to give this world, Jimin, and we all know you can do so _much_."

"But I don't _want_ to," Jimin sobs. "I just... I'd give it all up if I could just, if I could just see them again. I'd give up all this, all the fame, all the money, all of _this_ , if I could hear their voices one more time. Just... just once more. Please..."

He waits, prays for some divine deity of mercy to fix the world. He waits, and waits, and waits, but nothing happens. 

" _Why_?" he whispers, and Chanyeol sighs, reaches down to grasp his hand.

"When you go to a flower field, which flowers do you pick?" he asks.

"...the most beautiful ones."

* * *

When Chanyeol and Sehun try to tutor him in rapping, they realize exactly how hopeless he is. 

"Ah, I warned you guys," Jimin laughs, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly. "I'm pretty terrible at rap..."

"Aren't we all," Sehun sighs. 

"I know you can do this," Chanyeol assures him. "This is pretty simple, remember?"

"Hyung..." Jimin smiles, weak and self-deprecating. "That doesn't make me feel better..."

"Think of this - you can be great at _everything_!" Sehun exclaims. "The ultimate dancer-rapper-singer! That'd be awesome, right, Jiminie?"

"In theory..." Jimin sighs. "I'm terrible at rap..."

"You're not bad, you're just not confident," Chanyeol states. "You _can_ do it, you just don't _know_ you can. It's just like singing - if you're not confident, it shows in your rap."

Jimin rakes a hand through his hair, biting his lip. "Okay. Let me try it again."

 _"Ain't gotta be somebody, be anybody, rather be anybody than live in a dead body-_ no, no, no, that's not right. Why did this have to be English, again?"

"If you can do English, you can do Korean," Sehun replies. "I mean, it's only two bars. I get the syllables are weird, but I think it's doable."

"You said simple," Jimin mutters. "This isn't simple..."

"Are you going to whine about it, or are you going to do it?" Chanyeol challenges, and Jimin's eyes flash for a moment, before his lips curl into a smile. 

"Of course I'm going to do it," he grins, folding his arms over his chest. "It's not impossible, so I'm going to do it!"

"That's the spirit!" Jongin calls from somewhere outside. Jimin beams, flashing a thumbs-up at the door, despite knowing Jongin can't actually see it.

"Okay!" Chanyeol exclaims, turning on the backing track again. "Let's do this!"

_"Ain't gotta be somebody, be anybody, rather be anybody than live in a dead body. If you can't find me then find a helicopter in the night sky, shine like a star."_

The verse completed, Jimin clenches his hands into fist, eyes swimming with unshed tears.

"I'll make you proud, Joonie-hyung," he vows, smiling even as a tear slips down his cheek. "I _promise_."

* * *

He works, works, works, and forgets to sleep more often than he cares to admit.

The whole thing is absolutely _draining_. With morning comes dance practice, vocal practice, and meetings with _EXO_ , and the afternoon brings exactly the same, but for his own albums.

Five hours of sleep is enough to sustain life, right?

"Have you been sleeping enough, Jimin?" Sehun asks, leaning into the room with concern written on his face. Jimin shrieks, ripping the headphones off his ears with such force that they crash into the wall, and they both wince as they hit the ground. Well. There goes another pair.

"Um," Jimin eloquently starts, face bright red from embarrassment. "Maybe?"

"Hyung says you need to sleep," Sehun states, and Jimin laughs, eyes crinkling into small crescents.

"You really love being someone's hyung, don't you?" Jimin grins, and Sehun smiles, gaze soft.

"Maybe," he relents, and Jimin preens, brushing his bangs out of his face. "Besides, you're a good dongsaeng."

"You're all great hyungs," Jimin retorts, and Sehun turns slightly pink. "I mean it!"

"It's nice to not be the maknae for once," Sehun mumbles, and Jimin smiles, sliding out of his chair and enfolding the elder in a hug. 

"You're a great hyung," Jimin murmurs, and Sehun sighs, smile growing. "I mean it!"

"Are you two coming for dinner?" Minseok asks, and Jimin yelps yet again, leaping into the air. This time, he nearly lands on his feet, only to slip on the smooth wood and face-plant onto the floor.

Wow, he muses. Such an _astounding_ lack of coordination from Park Jimin, dancer 'extraordinaire'. So impressive. Much amaze.

"Are you okay?" Sehun and Minseok ask in unison, and Jimin beams, rolling over onto his back and rubbing at the sore spot on his forehead.

"I'm fine!" he grins, rolling to a seated position. Minseok offers a hand and Jimin gladly takes it, casting a longing look into the room at his decimated headphones. "That's not the first time someone's startled me today."

"He broke his headphones by throwing them against the wall," Sehun murmurs, and Jimin squeaks, folding his arms over his chest.

"When you say it like _that_ , it's like I _meant_ to break them!" he protests. "You startled me, and I threw them!"

"You threw your headphones into the _wall_ ," Sehun deadpans. "Are they even yours?"

"Oh," Jimin repeats, face going white. "Oh, they're _Yoongi-hyung's_. He's going to kill me. My days are numbered-"

He realizes his mistake an instant too late, gaze dropping to his feet. "Oh. Right."

Minseok and Sehun exchange looks, before the elder of the two enfolds Jimin in a soft hug. The younger opts to interlace his fingers with Jimin's, noting with some disbelief how _small_ they are.

"Your hands are so _small_ ," he states, awe in his voice. Jimin laughs, a short, hoarse thing, as fresh tears start to flow.

"That's... that's what Tae always said..." he murmurs, and Sehun internally kicks himself. 

"Hey, hey, Jimin, it's okay," Minseok soothes. "Your hyungs are here, alright? We're here."

"You guys, dinner-"

Jongdae and Jongin stop short, exchanging looks before joining the hug pile. It's warm, and Jimin allows himself to accept this for just one moment.

"Hug pile!" Baekhyun chirps, joining the pile with a concerned Chanyeol and Yixing just behind. Though, for the latter two, it's moreso being _yanked_ into the pile by Jongin and Baekhyun, so. 

It's the thought that counts, anyways. 

"What's happening- oh."

Junmyeon surveys the scene, a soft smile on his face as he gazes at the other members. Kyungsoo stands next to him, an apron still tied around his midsection and a bit of oil rolling down his cheek. He's been cooking, then.

"Lemme grab the camera," he hurriedly states, and Kyungsoo relents, joining the hug pile next to Yixing. There's nine people in the hug pile, and Jimin's _warm_.

"Does this help?" Jongin asks from somewhere in the pile (Jimin's honestly not sure where, focusing more on _breathing_ with two people on top of him) and Jimin hums assent.

"I got it!" Junmyeon proclaims, brandishing a camera like a deadly weapon. "Everyone say cheese!"

"Hyung, you have to join the pile," Baekhyun states matter-of-factly. "You can't just _not_ join the hug pile. It's for our maknae's well-being."

"Help the poor makane," Jimin pleads, though it's more due to being _crushed_ than his grief. Which, granted, is pretty crushing as well, but it's easier to grieve when you can _breathe_. 

Junmyeon laughs, raising the camera and throwing himself between Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. "Everyone say cheese!"

The picture goes viral, and the hashtag #SaveTheMaknae trends for weeks. 

(More importantly, Kyungsoo's cooking burns, and Sehun and Minseok spend the next week living off instant ramen. Jimin's safe, but only because everyone has a soft spot for the maknae)

(He gives his food to Sehun and Minseok anyways)

* * *

The breaking point comes when he passes out during dance practice with Yixing and Jongin.

He doesn't even realize it happened until after the fact. One second, he was working on a particularly difficult step, and the next, he's staring at the ceiling of the practice room, relishing in the way the cold seeps into his shirt. 

"Jimin?" Jongin asks, and Jimin forces his eyes open with a _colossal_ effort. Ouch. He's sore all over, and he feels about fifteen seconds away from snagging a nap on this nice comfy wood.

"Everything hurts," he mumbles, and Jongin and Yixing exchange panicked looks. Shit. Not what he was going for. 

"Everything's _sore_ ," he revises, and they both breathe a sigh of relief. "What happened?"

"You collapsed," Yixing states, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Have you been sleeping enough?"

"Yes," he lies, and they both stare at him.

So. That's not happening. 

"Okay, maybe I've been missing some sleep here and there," he relents. "But it's for a good cause!"

And it definitely is. The only time he has to work on the tracks are while everyone else is asleep, and he pulls multiple all-nighters a week trying to make it work. It's also the only time he has to practice his raps - which he has an _abundance_ of in this album, for some god-forsaken reason, don't they know he can't rap? - and, coincidentally, the time he devotes to practicing Lights.

It may never be released, but some foolish part of his mind can't let it go. 

"How _much_ sleep?" Yixing presses, and Jimin gulps, realizing just _how_ screwed he is.

"Um... I get five hours?" he tries, and the other dancers give him _cut-the-shit_ looks. "Every... fourth night or so?"

"Jiminie..." Jongin trails off, eyes sad. "You need to sleep more than that."

"I'm fine," Jimin insists, forcing himself to his feet. Spots dance in his vision for a moment, and he tries to blink them away, but they stubbornly linger. "What time is it?"

"Three," Yixing states.

" _Three_?" Jimin echoes, panic evident in his voice. "I missed the dance lesson already! I still have to go to the vocal lesson! I'll be back-"

"No," Yixing interjects, moving forwards to block his path. "This isn't good. Trying to handle all of this at once is killing you, Jimin."

"I'm _fine_ ," Jimin insists, reaching for the doorknob. "I can handle it."

"You _can't_ ," Jongin murmurs. "Stop lying."

"I _can_ ," Jimin repeats. "I have to."

"Why-"

" _Because I'm all that's left_!"

Silence.

The sort of horrible, suffocating silence that only comes from a lack of words. Jimin's hands are clenched into fists at his sides, his heavy breathing the only sound in the otherwise-silent practice room.

"I'm all that's left," he repeats, voice already thick with tears. "I'm all that's left, so I have to work harder. I have to work hard enough for all of them, for all my hyungs and for Tae and Kookie." He pauses, sucking in a long breath as tears stream down his cheeks. "I h-have to work harder, s-so people won't forget them. B-Because if t-they forget Bangtan, t-then what did we work for? I-It's not fair..."

"It'll be okay, Chim," Jongin soothes, rubbing circles into his back. Jimin wails, clinging onto his arms as he sobs, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"It _won't_!" he sobs, shaking his head furiously. "I can't- I'm not _enough_! Why me? Why not Namjoon-hyung, or Yoongi-hyung, or Kook? They're all, and I'm just, I'm just _me_..."

"Hey, hey, ssh," Yixing murmurs, gathering the shorter dancer in his arms. "We're here, Jimin."

"I know," Jimin whispers. "I know."

* * *

Things change, after that.

Management adjusts his schedule to make time for rap practice (which he's still not very good at, unfortunately), studio time, and, most importantly, therapy. Something about losing someone's entire family leads to therapy, a cause and effect Jimin is _definitely_ behind.

Another, unintentional, change is that Jimin no longer sleeps alone.

The most common culprits are Jongdae and Jongin, but all of the EXO members partake at least once. (Granted, Jimin's about ninety percent sure that Kyungsoo falling asleep next to him was an accident, but he'll take it) It's always nice to wake up to someone next to him, even if they're using him as a pillow.

It's good for his nightmares, definitely. That much he's sure of. His nightmares have mostly subsided since the (unspoken) arrangement began, and Jimin _adores_ it. Dreamless sleep is _exponentially_ better than no sleep.

Sejin calls him and apologizes nearly forty times, and it's only when Jimin assures him that _yes, he is fine, no, he doesn't need to drop anything, yes, he is the one that took all of the Run BTS dvds, why do you ask?_ that he relents. 

So here Jimin is. 

Sitting at a table, surrounded by EXO - surrounded by his new family, he realizes - and everyone's _happy_.

They're happy, they're okay, they're _alive_ , and it's _perfect_.

He doesn't realize he's crying until tears roll down his face and drip into the food, and everyone's gaze immediately shifts to him.

"Jiminie, is everything okay?" Jongin asks, wrapping his arms around the younger. Jimin nods, a bright smile on his face even as the tears continue to flow.

"I-I'm just..." he trails off, casting a glance around the room. "I-I'm so _happy_..."

A collective 'aww' floats up from the assembled members, and Junmyeon even pokes his head out of the kitchen to participate. Jimin flushes all the way to the tips of his ears, but smiles nonetheless - he's _happy_ \- and buries his face in his hands.

"T-Thank you," he whispers. "T-Thank you... s-so much..."

"Of course, Jiminie," Jongin whispers, intertwining their pinkies and gripping his hand in a vice-like grip. "We'll always be here for you."

The other members hum assent, and Kyungsoo nods from the kitchen. And, see, the thing is that Jimin doesn't doubt they _want_ to be.

But Bangtan wanted to do that too.

"You'll leave again," he murmurs, and the table falls silent. "Everyone always does."

"We're not everyone," Baekhyun grins. "We're EXO."

And that's that.

* * *

Time passes.

Jimin releases his first collaborative album with EXO, releasing his own a few weeks later. It tops all the charts (the intact ones, anyways) and the newspapers comment on Jimin's rapping as well as his singing.

He honestly dies of embarrassment every time he hears it on the radio, but Chanyeol _preens_ , as though it's thanks to _him_ Jimin sounds even remotely like a rapper. Which is true, but. Well. 

EXO has to dye their hair in _pastels_ (and Jimin personally loses his shit when the nine of them show, Yixing with freshly-dyed hair for solidarity, and promptly uploads a photo to Twitter and proceeds to laugh for the rest of the day) and Jimin redyes his the vibrant pink-red it was for the BBMAs.

(The name still makes him want to puke)

Surprisingly, the next thing Sejin contacts him about is an American show, and he nearly screams when he hears what it entails.

_"You'd be collaborating with an American group and writing a song, and competing at the end of the week- Jimin?"_

He hurriedly accepts, and then promptly runs to the bathroom to puke his guts out. 

The show's in six months, and Jimin nearly vomits _again_ when he sees the artist list. There's Panic at the Disco, Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Halsey (and _damn_ if that isn't a wound that hasn't fully healed) and numerous others.

Suffice to say, three hours of his daily schedule now turn from dance to English, something he's not exactly thrilled about, but _sorely_ needs.

The rest of EXO kindly tutors him, and it turns out he's not a completely lost cause. Sure, there are some weird things (is the thing for a computer the same as the _animal_ mouse?) but he's able to hold at least semi-coherent conversations in English after around five months. 

(He's not as good as Namjoon, but, then, he never expected to be)

"Who else is participating?" he asks one lazy day, lounging over the back of the couch as he taps away on his phone.

"So far, TXT-"

Junmyeon's about to add more when Jimin throws his phone into the air, eyes widening with panic.

"I forgot about my dongsaengs!" he squeaks, and someone groans.

"Jiminie," Jongin gripes, face buried in a pillow. "You mean to tell me you did not _once_ think about the _only other group_ from your company in _over a year_?"

"Yes..." he mumbles, cheeks heating with shame. "They're going to kill me. Jungkook's going to rise from the ashes and murder me."

The others tense, apparently anticipating a breakdown, but Jimin merely carries on, lost in his own world.

"I mean, they _just_ debuted when this happened! And now I haven't even wished them well or listened to their new album... I don't even know who's still alive!"

"Calm down," Minseok soothes. "I looked into them a few months back. All five of them are fine."

"They hate me..." Jimin whines, burying his face in the couch. "They're going to hate me for the rest of their _lives_..."

"You won't know if you don't talk to them," Yixing advises, scrolling through something on his phone. "And I think they're worried you don't like them."

"What?" Jimin squeaks, and Yixing shoves his phone into the younger's face. He scans the interview and finally lets out a sigh of defeat, flopping back into the cushions.

"They think you're avoiding them," Yixing states, and Jimin laughs, face red yet again.

"If I was avoiding them, at least I wouldn't have forgotten they exist," he laughs, burying his face in his hands. "I'm the worst hyung _ever_."

"Kinda," Sehun hums, and Jimin withers. "But at least you're trying."

* * *

They fly to America five days early for a few interviews, and Jimin wants to _die_.

He's jetlagged out of his mind, but somehow the rest of EXO (and when did he start thinking of them that way?) are as charismatic as usual. It's _unfair_.

He's jetlagged, exhausted, and emotional, so he thinks he can be excused a _few_ things in the interview.

Which, honestly, is a bit of a train wreck.

He goes in to interview with Wired alongside Junmyeon and Jongin, and he's exhausted, overly-emotional, and moderately hungry. So.

It's not _really_ an excuse for why he starts crying when people refer to him as Bangtan's Jimin, but that does seem to set the tone for the rest of the interview pretty well.

The questions aren't really sunshine and rainbows, and Jimin starts crying at least three times. Junmyeon looks like he wants to rip someone limb from limb - likely the entire internet - but hides it under the perfect mask he's constructed.

Jongin doesn't even need a mask. His normal look of nonchalance happens to be the exact same as his expression of bitter hatred, so he doesn't need to try.

There's exactly one good thing that comes out of the interview, Jimin later decides, looking back over the footage.

It's one of the last questions on his board - one filled with such wonders as "is Jimin BTS dead" and "is Jimin still part of BTS" - and he's honestly done by this point. The internet is cruel, and he's much rather live as a hermit than deal with more questions.

"Is Jimin..." he starts, breath catching in his throat. "Oh. Is Jimin part of EXO."

Jongin and Junmyeon stare at him expectantly, and Jimin suddenly finds that it's quite difficult to breathe.

"I mean..." he trails off, gaze flitting over the two present members. "Can I be a member of BTS _and_ EXO?"

Junmyeon sighs, but he's smiling nonetheless. "I don't see why not."

"Then yes!" he chirps, turning back to face the camera. "I'm an unofficial member of EXO!"

Unsurprisingly, the interview goes viral.

Also unsurprisingly, the hastag #EXOJimin starts trending as well.

(Maybe two, Jimin will later muse, reviewing the footage for the forty-fifth time. Not from him, but from Junmyeon.)

("Can Junmyeon cook?" he reads, and stares at the camera with an utterly deadpan expression. "No. Please don't make Kyungsoo enlist. We can't even make instant tteokbokki.")

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Jimin is _terrified_ of this event.

It's one thing to collaborate with Halsey as full Bangtan, with a fluent Namjoon to translate. It is _definitely_ another to collaborate with a band that sings _only_ in English, as simply Jimin. Not Bangtan. Just Jimin.

Junmyeon already pulled him over before the opening, promising EXO would be by his side if things got hairy. Jimin gladly accepted, and now here they are.

On a stage.

About to hear the pair assignments.

Jimin's gaze flits over the assembled groups, fingers twitching nervously as he balls up the hem of his pastel sweater in his hands. He's sandwiched between the two best candidates for not freaking out (namely, Junmyeon and TXT's Soobin) and he's absolutely terrified.

Then again, Soobin doesn't look much better - his face is flushed, and he shakes like a leaf under the bright lights. Thank the stars they haven't started filming yet.

"Hey," Jimin murmurs, and Soobin turns, eyes wide before he schools his expression into one of curious nonchalance. "It's alright to be nervous. When I heard about this, I got so nervous I threw up. And you're only twenty. It's alright to be a bit nervous."

"Thanks, sunbaenim," Soobin murmurs, and Jimin laughs, poking the younger in the cheek playfully.

"Just call me hyung!" he grins, and Soobin stares at him as though he's seen a ghost. "Sunbaenim makes me feel old."

"Alright... Jimin-hyung," Soobin smiles. "I heard your new album. It's really great."

"I heard yours too!" Jimin chirps. "It's absolutely amazing! I'm so glad I have such amazing dongsaengs!"

"You're not..." Soobin trails off, gaze growing distant. "You're not upset with us, are you?"

"Of course not," Jimin assures the younger, a comforting smile on his face. "Honestly, you guys are the ones that should be upset with _me_. I'm not upset with you all."

"Then why didn't you contact us?"

Soobin looks like a kicked puppy, honestly, and Jimin feels his heart shatter in his chest.

"Ah, well-"

"We monopolize his time pretty well," Junmyeon smiles, wrapping an arm around Jimin's side. "He _is_ EXO's maknae."

"But he's our hyung!" Soobin protests. "You can't have _all_ of him."

"Jongin and Sehun aren't going to give him up," Junmyeon warns, and Soobin simply wraps an arm around the elder's forearm.

"We'll fight for our hyung," Soobin vows, and Jimin laughs, wrapping them both in a hug.

"Ah, can't I have both of you?" he teases, and the other two smile. 

"Isn't that adorable?" one of the hosts comments, and Jimin flushes all the way to the tips of his ears. So they _were_ on camera.

And being watched by literally everyone.

 _Great_.

"Unfortunately, we do have to start the show," he states, and Soobin and Junmyeon immediately slide away. "Let's just get into it, then!"

* * *

Jimin's about ninety percent certain that he is, in fact, going to die. 

Not only is he not fluent in English (a definite problem) but he also found out who he's collaborating with.

And he is, in fact, going to die.

" _Brendon Urie_ ," he laments, hair spilling out beneath him as he lounges over the back of the couch. "I'm working with _Brendon Urie_. I'm going to _die_."

"We get to work with Shawn Mendes," Jongin states, and Jimin lets out a groan, burying his face in his pillow.

"He probably thinks I'm some pastel sugar child," he mumbles, voice muffled by the fabric.

"You kinda are," Baekhyun teases, and Jimin throws a pillow at his head. 

"And Tomorrow X Together gets to work with Halsey," he protests. "I've worked with her before! Why couldn't I work with her again?"

"Because that's a really bad idea," Minseok points out.

"Yeah..." Jimin trails off, eyes sad. "But Brendon Urie probably thinks I'm an idiot. Some sort of sugar fairy or whatever."

"That's not a bad thing," Jongin points out. "Because you are. And he doesn't seem like the type to judge like that."

"I am not!" Jimin exclaims, and the rest of EXO simply stares. "Okay. Maybe I _kinda_ am. But that's not important."

"Jiminie, you'll be _fine_ ," Jongdae soothes. "He's worked with Taylor Swift before, you know. And you're much more tolerable than her."

"Don't diss Taylor Swift!" Jimin and Sehun protest in tandem. Baekhyun snorts, running a hand through his lilac hair absentmindedly.

"Besides, I think you guys look good with all the pastels," Jimin smiles, and the rest of EXO collectively seems to wither. "It's pretty adorable."

"Kyungsoo especially looks adorable!" Baekhyun chirps, and the man in question pauses in his culinary work long enough to shoot Baekhyun a faux-dirty look. 

"It is kinda funny, though," Jimin giggles. "You're such a dark and edgy group..."

"The world could use a little more sunshine every once in a while," Sehun mumbles, and everyone stops talking after that.

* * *

The first meeting goes about as well as Jimin expected.

He withers under Brendon's gaze, hands stuffed in skinny jeans and hair eclipsing his eyes. Honestly, he feels a great deal shorter than he actually _is_ , but that could be because of how intimidating the man seems. He's taller (though only by an inch), with dark hair and a strong gaze, and Jimin feels incredibly tiny.

"You're Jimin?" he asks, and Jimin nods, a soft smile on his face. 

"Yeah," he murmurs, Bangtan's friendship bracelet heavy on his wrist. "Park Jimin. I'm a singer and dancer, and part of Bangtan. Sorry... my English isn't very good."

"Seems fine to me," Brendon comments, and Jimin smiles. "Brendon Urie, lead vocalist of Panic at the Disco."

"I know!" Jimin blurts, almost immediately wishing he'd _shut the hell up_ but apparently the memo doesn't _quite_ make it to his mouth, because he keeps talking. "I loved your album _Death of a Bachelor_ , even though it's kinda old, and I listened to all of _Pray for the Wicked_ on the way over and _I am rambling_ , sorry about that."

"It's alright," Brendon smiles. "Always nice to meet a fan."

Death would be a mercy at this point, honestly.

"Um," Jimin tries, attempting to salvage the conversation. "We should probably look at our concept."

The whole thing of being given a concept to work with is a bit difficult as far as creativity goes, but Jimin's just grateful they can skip the awkward brainstorming stage. That requires a level of communication he does _not_ want to deal with.

"Life," Brendon reads, and Jimin wants to _die_.

"I mean, we can spin this either way," he muses instead, running a hand through his pink hair. "We could either go the more life-y approach, or take it on the death side. What do you think?"

"Maybe a bit of both," Brendon thinks, tapping his chin with his finger. "Your high vocals with my lower could make a good contrast."

Jimin simply smiles, trying very hard not to let it slip that he's completely incompetent when it comes to songwriting. Lyrics, yes. Techincal jargon? Not a chance in hell.

"But who has which part?" he asks, and Brendon hums, lost in thought.

"The conventional route would be to give you the more positive part," he muses, and Jimin can sense an impending 'but'. "But," there it is, "neither of us have really been conventional."

"So you want to take the lighter side." It's not a question.

"Actually," Brendon retorts, "I want you to take the darker part." Upon seeing Jimin's confusion, he clarifies. "You've got something dark buried deep down, and I wanna see what it looks like when it's released."

* * *

"Jimin!"

He turns, gaze lighting up as he recognizes the voice. "Oh! Halsey! It's so great to see you!"

"Are you doing okay?" she asks, and he pauses, unsure of how to answer.

"...more or less," he finally replies. "I hear you're working with my dongsaengs in TXT!"

"Don't deflect," she chastises, and Jimin withers. "What's more or less?"

"It's just been tough," he sighs, rubbing his temples in something resembling a soothing motion. "Always is."

"You have friends, Jimin," Halsey reminds him, and he nods. "Don't forget that."

He forces a grin, nods, steps back as if to run. "I need to head. Practice and all that."

"Be careful," Halsey warns him, and he nods.

(Awkward, silted - wrong)

* * *

They compete and Jimin loves it.

He's always been cast as the soft one - a soft flower, a gentle petal, pastels and bright colors. He's never been allowed to do _this_.

This, being:

Black hair shot through with his normal bubblegum streaks. A pink sweater over all black. The clear fallacy of happiness, the clear concept that bright and happy are not the same.

He spits raps into the microphone with bitter fury, channeling his longing, regret, self-loathing, and forcing it out. Snakes crawl out of his throat, venom-coated words slithering through his veins.

His words hurt.

Brendon's vocals are soft and longing, but Jimin's- the mix between vocal and rap results in something resembling a cacophony, filled with the horrifying mess that occupies his thoughts.

Everyone is surprised, as he hoped. As they expected.

("It's hard to keep breathing when your lungs are filled with dust," he spits, and that line in particular seems to hit home)

It's a song that's raw, emotional, but at the same time, _empty_. Not devoid of emotion, just... hollow. As though there should be more voices.

And that's what Jimin wanted. 

Because he's going to force the world to remember Bangtan. Forgetting isn't an option - never has been, never will be. 

Were he to forget, who would remember?

When they finish, the lights cut out, and Brendon shoots him a bright grin. Jimin simply nods, scrubbing at the tears rolling down his cheeks, because pouring his all into rap is the same as singing, honestly. If anything, it's even more so, since rap is so lyric-driven.

He misses Yoongi.

Soon enough, it's question time, and he's _excited._

"What was your inspiration for this?" the judges ask, and Jimin pauses, thinks.

"I just thought back to how I felt when I saw the footage," Jimin blandly states. "How it felt like a part of me died along with them."

There's a moment of weighted silence, and Jimin grins. "That's just for the rapping, though! The other part... I mean, I was still happy. For years. And I wouldn't trade that for anything."

"And your hair is similar to how it was during your Fake Love era?" another judge asks, and Jimin beams.

"Yep!" he chirps, running a hand through the mop. "I kept the pink from Boy With Luv, but made it mostly black like it was during Fake Love era. I think it's good?"

"It's great," one of the judges assures him, and Jimin beams. 

"And I think it's a pretty good... metaphor?" he mumbles, slipping into Korean near the end. The translator translates, and the judges nod for him to continue. "For who I am right now. I'm not the same bright Jimin I was, but I'm still me. Just a bit... different, 's all."

"Impressive," the judges note.

They win, and the single - Dust & Diamonds - is released. It tops charts worldwide, and Jimin's over the moon. 

Coincidentally, he's put on antidepressants once they return to Korea.

* * *

He and EXO find a small cafe, and go there every day before rehearsal. 

It's a hole in the wall, practically - a small place where the smell of coffee hangs in the air. It's got cushioned seats and soft booths, and they take a table in the corner each and every time. 

Jimin and Jongin share the window seat that faces the table, though the others take different seats each time. The store itself has music-themed beverages, and Jimin _always_ , without fail, orders whatever Bangtan-themed drink is on sale that day.

EXO usually opt for cosmic lattes, but every so often, one of them will bite and try out whatever Jimin's having. Jimin's had the comic lattes before, and they're pretty good.

There's an unspoken agreement that whenever one of their songs comes on, they have to do the choreography for it - an agreement that somehow led to Jimin teaching the rest of EXO the Boy With Luv choreography. Whoever else happens to be in the cafe watches, and the baristas know them all by name.

It's their happy place. A tiny hole in the wall separate from the rest of the world. 

And Jimin wouldn't trade it for anything.

Today, they're actually singing here. There's only a few people there, the cafe's regulars, but all of them know the boys by name, and all of them listen to their music.

There's the old woman in the corner who always knits, watching the boys with a contented fondness in her gaze. There's the twins who sip coffee in the corner, watching the two of them out of the corners of their eyes as they share a pair of earbuds. There's the pair of teenage boys who exchange kisses when they think nobody's watching, as well as a younger couple who come in every so often.

Yeah, they all know each other here.

Jimin slides his phone across the table and Yixing plugs it in as he and Jongin stand. They're doing a pair routine in preparation for their next concert, and they _really_ want to show someone.

The music starts (a hyper song titled "Electric") and the two of them leap into the dance. It's something like synchronizing minds, focusing on each step as well as the next ten to come.

And it's amazing.

Jimin laughs as Jongin lifts him over his head, tipping his head back and extending his arms. It's supposed to feel like flying, and it always does.

"You and I, baby, we're electric," Jimin sings, and Jongin grins, placing him on the ground and spinning away.

"Me and you, our hearts are electric," Jongin echoes, and they meet in the middle, linking their hands and pulling apart just slightly.

"You and I, baby, we're electric," they sing in unison, and Jongin wraps his arms around Jimin's torso and throws him over his shoulder. It took _months_ before they could do that without a mattress, but now Jimin lands it as easily as he always does.

"Me and you, our songs are electric," they add, and Jimin wraps his arms around Jongin's torso from behind, grinning at the crowd.

It's a love song, yes, but Jimin and Jongin choose to think of it more as a friendship song. All of the "baby"s and "love"s are in there to appeal to the masses, but the core is simply them.

It doesn't stop the rest of EXO from catcalling them, however, and Jimin pauses to cheerfully flip them off.

"When's the wedding?" Baekhyun teases, and Jongin glares, before Jimin wraps him in a hug.

"You're just jealous because I'm Jonginie-hyung's favorite," Jimin grins, and Baekhyun laughs.

* * *

He still posts in the Bangtan group chat sometimes.

Once every few months, or more if he's feeling particularly down. It's therapeutic, in a way, and he likes to imagine the others can see his messages.

_Jimin: been a month miss you guys so much purple you forever why did you have to go_

_Jimin: two months in and im living with exo now :D theyre absolutely amazing! don't worry about me!_

_Jimin: holy s h i t hyungs i dont think i told you but the bill to let kpop artists not enlist passed and im so happy holy fuck fuck f u c k hyungs we can keep making music im so happy_

_Jimin: six months. miss you guys so much it hurts but im getting a solo album and working w exo! theyre all absolutely incredible beings and im so lucky??? shdjhskjgh_

_Jimin: unofficial member of exo now pls dont be mad i miss you_

_Jimin: lost & found just released and i cant believe i actually released an album with exo jsdkshjkghjksd what has my life COME to_

_Jimin: first steps came out about seven days later and the critics love it i cant believe i actually did it yoongi-hyung joonie-hyung hobi-hyung is this how you felt?_

_Jimin: been a year and i still miss you so much_

_Jimin: everyone loves dust & diamonds wtf its so edgy lmao im just glad its good enough_

_Jimin: apparently my fans call themselves dust-children and i actually kinda like it???_

_Jimin: learning self defense now add that to the english and the rap and the dancing and the singing and the composition and well see what weve got_

_Jimin: second album w exo released! aha calling it new paths was weird but i like it_

_Jimin: second individual album released :D starshine_

_Jimin: collaborating w our amazing txt dongsaengs im so proud of them i mean really theyve come so far you cant even imagine how proud i am ahkshfjksd_

_Jimin: third individual album milky way came out yesterday and i cant believe were still doing stars but oh well_

_Jimin: sun and moon came out today and i love it txt is so talented what is my life coming to hyungs plus tae and kook_

_Jimin: world tour??? world tour!!! jonginie-hyung and i performed electric and it was so cool hsdjkshkjg_

_Jimin: hyungs north korea became a republic we might reunify holy s h i t_

_Jimin: two years and i still miss you like it was yesterday_

* * *

He's invited to VidCon two years after, and it takes him all of ten seconds to say yes.

It's not surprising, not in the slightest. He posts a V-Live once a week, but streams on YouTube once a month for his international fans. It's a mixture of gaming, cooking, makeup... everything under the sun, really. 

So when he's invited to VidCon, he goes. Obviously. 

And he expects to have a good time, too. As normal people do when invited to large conventions.

What he _wasn't_ expecting was a certain Swedish YouTuber by the moniker of PewDiePie.

"You're Jimin, right?" an accented voice asks from behind him and Jimin yelps, spinning and shaking his violet-dyed hair out of his face. It's cosmic-themed, meant to match EXO's, but he thinks it just looks weird. Oh, well.

"Yep!" he exclaims, immediately recognizing the face despite the streak of blue in his blond hair. "And you're PewDiePie!"

"Guilty as charged," the Swede grins, and Jimin _still_ has to remind himself he's not a supermodel. "You wanna find somewhere to chat?"

Jimin accepts, and a short thirty minutes later, he finds himself with Felix's number, a promise to call, and a collaboration hanging in the air.

Said collaboration hangs in the air until that night, when Felix calls Jimin to the hotel lobby, along with some other YouTubers that survived the snap.

"I can't believe you guys unfollowed me!" Felix whines, and Jimin laughs. " _So_ uncool!"

"That was Joonie-hyung's idea," Jimin grins. "I watched your gaming series, though, while you were releasing it."

"Say," Felix smirks, an idea dancing in his cerulean eyes. "What would you say to a collaboration? Like, a musical one?"

Jimin gestures to the camera, indicating the livestream. "I was going to say, we're already collaborating," he teases, and Felix laughs. "But a musical collaboration sounds great. Have you ever rapped?"

"Sure!" Felix grins, and Jimin quirks a brow.

"Outside of diss tracks?"

"Diss tracks are a legitimate art form!" Felix protests, and Jimin nearly falls off the couch with the force of his laughter. "Besides, Dave here does a lot of that."

"I kinda do," Dave muses, English accent thick enough that Jimin struggles to understand him. "Call me if you want to work."

(He does in fact call him, and the three of them do release a track that breaks the internet. The managers get a bit upset with him, but, well. Rules have been more lax since the Snap anyways)

* * *

Three years after the snap, Jimin's released five solo albums and four with EXO. He's also featured on two of TXTs, but that was more so as a guest than a genuine collaborator.

Today, they're filming the music video for Tempest, the biggest hit from the new album. It's a magic-themed music video, as per usual, but Jimin is _super_ excited.

And not just because he gets to wield a massive halberd taller than him. 

"It's so pretty," he muses, stroking the bright pink ribbons contemplatively. They're as long as the hilt, and slightly drag on the floor, and he _loves_ them. Plus, he's gone back to the black and pink from the game show, and the fans seem to like it, so here it shall stay. 

"It's also sharp," Minseok warns, and Jimin rolls his eyes.

"Yes, hyung," he teases, and Minseok sighs, resigning himself to the unfortunate fate that is dealing with Park Jimin. 

"Just don't hurt yourself," he states, and Jimin beams.

He's supposed to make a dramatic entrance, leaping over the debris piled high behind the robot and slicing it down the middle. The makeup they have him wearing - the same color as his hair, indicative of love (whatever that's supposed to mean) - sparkles in the low light, and he grins into the mirror. It's not the first time he's worn this makeup, and he hopes it won't be the last.

He's probably going to die in this music video, but. Well.

"I'm gonna die in this music video," he laughs, and Jongin pauses next to him, absentmindedly running his thumb over the fake jewels on his temple.

"Yeah, you're gonna die," he casually states, and Jimin laughs.

The other nine head out to film their part, and Jimin watches as they immediately transform into their stage personas. It's impressive, and he never tires of seeing it. 

Finally, Chanyeol's backed up against a wall, the towering robot glaring down at him. Jimin takes his place, waiting for the musical cue as the others attempt to rescue the trapped member.

There.

He sprints up the ramp and leaps into the air, halberd raised high overhead in what he hopes is a dramatic moment. The others turn to stare, and he grins, stabbing the blade between two of the robot's plates and sliding down to the ground.

A wink at the camera and he slams his hands together, creating the shields he knows will manifest in post. The others look shocked, and he winks, raising his halberd as if to defend from an attack that isn't coming. He holds the pose for a minute as the light in front of him grows, turning back to smile sadly at the others before closing his eyes.

"Cut!" the director shouts, and the others immediately flock to Jimin, congratulating him on not face-planting after the jump. Jimin grins, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Thanks, hyungs," Jimin laughs, and the others beam.

It's edited to make it look like he's dying, set in black and white. Once it's uploaded, it almost immediately starts trending, and Jimin watches to see the fallout.

Theorists online ask each other why Jimin didn't shield himself, why he only shielded EXO, and Jimin himself doesn't know, but. Well. He gets to keep the very real and very sharp halberd, so he's not exactly complaining.

Add that to the knife stuffed in his boot, and he's pretty capable of warding off any would-be thieves. 

"I'm dangerous," he remarks to the camera during their reaction video, twirling the halberd in his hands. "It took me weeks to figure out how to use this, but I'm glad to say I finally figured it out!"

"It's 'cause your hands are so small," Jongin remarks, and Jimin smacks him.

* * *

He and EXO film a show with TXT, and Jimin _adores_ any chance he gets to interact with his dongsaengs. It also helps that Jimin, Jongin, and Jongdae recently featured on one of their new tracks, so they actually have an excuse to meet up.

"So, this is going to be an interesting challenge," the host states, and Jimin beams, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers. "Each of you will choose three members to compete, but we won't tell you what the event is until you choose!"

"How about me, Jimin, and Jongdae?" Junmyeon proposes, and the others nod, more than one seemingly relieved to not have to compete. The three of them cross the room, coming face to face with Soobin, Yeonjun, and Kai.

"We're going to win, hyung," Soobin grins, and Jimin laughs.

"Nah," he grins. "I think we will."

"So, are you ready to know the challenge?" the host asks, and Junmyeon and Soobin nod in terrifying synchrony. "Alright. So, your challenge is... switch parts in one of your songs with the person standing across from you!"

Naturally, Jimin bursts out laughing.

Jongdae pales, staring at Yeonjun with undisguised terror. "I... can I switch with Jiminie?"

"It's not going to help you," Jimin laughs. "All three of them are rappers, hyung."

Junmyeon and Jongdae look as if they would welcome death by this point, and behind them, the rest of EXO is collectively losing their shit. 

"I can't compete if I'm dead," Jongdae deadpans, and Jimin only laughs harder. "Please let me die."

"It'll be fine," Junmyeon assures him, despite looking moderately sick. "We'll... manage. Somehow."

"Which song are we doing?" Jimin asks, and the host grins, passing an envelope to each of the maknaes.

"Oh," Kai states, gaze going dark. "We- oh. Okay. We have Monster."

Jimin stares at the words before bursting out into a fresh wave of giggles, shaking his head as he stares at the unfortunate vocalists. "You two- we're doing Cat and Dog. I'm so sorry, hyungs..."

"Let me die," Jongdae gripes, sighing dramatically. "Please, cruel world. Grant me this one mercy."

"Suffer," Baekhyun teases, and Jongdae scowls.

Unsurprisingly, the rapping is a mess, and Soobin's the only one who isn't laughing - he seems to have vacated his body somewhere along the way, so as to keep some semblance of a poker face - but Chanyeol and Baekhyun are straight-up _howling_ as Jongdae attempts to rap, and the others seem equally hysterical, even if they show it differently.

(Kyungsoo even grins, so Jimin counts that as a win)

TXT wins, because _of course_ they do, they're _TXT_ , but all of the members (except Taehyun and a still shell-shocked Soobin) congratulate them, and EXO gladly reciprocate.

They're fun.

It's fun.

(It's nice, too. Nice, warm, happy, _family_.

Jimin's afraid to apply that to anything now, afraid to give _this_ a label-

but if he had to choose one, it'd be family.)

* * *

Life passes like that for the next two years. Jimin collects award after award for his music, as does EXO. It's commonplace to see TXT and EXO sharing the stage, and even more common to see Jimin swapping between both. 

He's happy.

On the five year anniversary, he and EXO arrange a tribute concert to all the groups that disbanded due to the Snap. He's performing Boy With Luv with EXO and Halsey, Blood Sweat & Tears with EXO, and Save Me with TXT.

And boy, is it a nostalgia trip.

He runs a hand through his black and pink hair, glad to see it's returned to something semi-familiar. The purple was okay, but the blue just made him want to cry. Orange worked alright, and green was... a poor idea all around, honestly. But for this show, he's dyed it back to something classic.

Seeing Halsey again is equally amazing, and they immediately reconnect. They've performed together at least once a year for the past five years, but this is a tribute to friends they share. Shared. Share?

Tenses are confusing.

He steps onto the stage, eyes sparkling as he gazes out at the crowd. Five years and he's back again, standing on the stage for the BBMAs. "Are you ready?" he shouts, raising a fist into the air. "Because we're here to bring back Bangtan!"

There's around ten groups performing, though Jimin's only performing with EXO and TXT. Save Me goes flawlessly, and he's immeasurably proud of TXT and how far they've come in the last five years. In a similar vein, Blood Sweat & Tears goes incredibly, though the effect is slightly lessened by Jimin's hair. Though, seeing EXO in such aristocratic clothes _is_ quite strange, and he tells them as much.

"You guys look weird like this," he states, gesturing to the other's outfits. All of them have black or brown hair, their natural colors, and the only reason Jimin has dyed hair is due to personal preference. "Wearing such fancy stuff, I mean."

"I don't know," Baekhyun teases, sidling over. "You've already blessed humanity with the shoulder reveal, Chiminie."

"It's not..." Jimin mumbles, covering his face with his hands. "Jonginie-hyung did it too!"

"I'm sexy," Jongin comments, flicking off his jacket sleeve. The crowd goes wild. "You're adorable, Jiminie."

"But I'm sexy too, right?" Jimin asks, directing the question at the crowd. The roar they get in response is answer enough, and he folds his arms over his chest in victory. "See? I'm sexy."

"You're sexy enough," Jongin cedes, and Jimin flicks him on the forehead.

"Hyung," he protests, "let me have this."

"Jimin," Junmyeon prods, and Jimin jumps, turning around and scurrying away from the leader.

"Is it speech time?" he asks, smile drooping. "Oh no, I forgot! Agh! Sorry!"

"It is, in fact, speech time," Junmyeon states, and Jimin wails.

"Sorry, ARMY!" he shouts. "Right! I worked on this speech for a really long time, since I wasn't sure... what to say. And I don't really have a plan... at all... so I'll just start talking."

"Bangtan Sonyeondan changed my life way back on June 12th, 2013," he starts, heading to the front of the stage. "I mean, back before that, I was just someone who was 'going to debut someday'. I didn't... I never thought I'd be here. Ever. Hah. But here I am. And I can proudly say that Bangtan... my _family_... they mean the world to me. Even if they can't hear this, I'm going to say it anyways."

He stares at his hands before twirling his hair around one finger, lost in thought. "Namjoon-hyung, you're astonishing, honestly. You know English and you can rap in it as well as you can in Korean. I... cannot do that. But I have such respect for you, RM-hyung, not only for your vocals - which are _good_ , stop fighting it - but also for your leadership skills. I'll never forget you."

He points to the camera, a smile on his face. "Jin-hyung, you're absolutely amazing and you need more lines. I love your vocals, your face, mister World-Wide-Handsome, and your amazing cooking. You're such a great hyung, and I don't know how we'd have survived without you by our sides. Don't let anyone belittle you, because you are absolutely mind-blowing."

He raises the mic next, as if to summon a deity. "Yoongi-hyung, hear my offering and tune in, because you're probably asleep. I think you'd be proud of my rapping, somehow, because every time I'm not sure what emotion to give to a song, it's like I can hear your voice in my ear. Chastising me, mostly, for not taking good enough care of myself, _thanks_ , hyung, you hypocrite, but it always helps."

He points to the crowd upon hearing the roars, and winks. "I'm fine, though! EXO's making me eat at least two meals a day!"

"Jiminie," Jongin drawls, approaching with an apple. "You need to eat something."

"Right on time," Jimin laughs, plucking the apple from the elder's hands. "Thanks, hyung."

He pockets the apple and turns back to the crowd, a bright smile on his face. "Where was I? Oh! Hobi-hyung! He's all of our hopes, right? The amazing J-Hope! Hyung, you're an incredible dancer, and an amazing rapper! Not to mention a great singer! I mean... you're just so happy all the time too, and your dancing is truly a work of art. Thank you so much!"

"Hmm..." he muses, "Tae. Taehyung. Taehyungie. V. No matter what you want me to call you, you're still my best friend. You're such an amazing singer, and an amazing rapper, even if you don't do that as much as you really should. You're an amazing visual too, and I don't know what I'd have done without you. I miss you so much, Tae. And I purple you, always and forever."

He's actually crying by this point, and he rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands as he continues. "Finally, Kookie. Our maknae. The golden maknae. It's not fair, is it? I mean, you had so much to do. So much to live for. You're such an amazing singer that it's awe-inspiring. And such a great dongsaeng, too! I don't... you should be alive."

He forces a watery smile, staring out into the crowd. "Bangtan changed my life. I owe them for everything I have now, honestly, because they saw potential in the short dancer from Busan. I mean, I keep thinking someday I'll wake up and this'll all be a fever dream, like Bangtan debuted without me, and... well. I really do miss them. Every single day. And I just- I miss them so much it _hurts_. We've all lost someone we care about, right?"

The stadium's gone silent, and Jimin's painfully aware of the way the spotlight's focused on him. "We've all been hurt by this. We've all... we're all hurting, still. Because the wounds never really heal. They just scab over a bit. Maybe it's a little thing, like opening your phone to message someone who's not going to respond. I know I do that. Maybe it's a bigger thing, like finding an old video of them. I do that too, actually. But you know what I know? They'd want us to move forwards."

He steps closer to the edge, extending his hand to the assembled crowd. "They wouldn't want us to forget, but they wouldn't want us to stop, either. Because healing doesn't mean forgetting. It means accepting your scars and loving them. It means learning to make your heart bigger, to make up for the bit that died. It means remembering to breathe, even when you just want to hold your breath, because it'd make them happier than anything to know you're still breathing. I'm not saying this is easy, because it's not. I mean, some days I _still_ hate myself for living, when all of them didn't. But on those days, I just remind myself that as long as I can make someone smile, I'm not worthless. That there's a reason I'm still here, and that reason is to make all of the Dust-Children out there smile. All of the ARMYs out there smile. Because all of you deserve love, even if you don't think you do."

He forms a heart with his fingers and raises it above his head, smiling all the while. "And even if there's nobody out there that you think loves you, then remember that I do. I love each and every one of you out there. I love all of the groups backstage, and my EXO hyungs, who are lurking awkwardly at the back of the stage. Because to do this - to pay tribute to my family... it means the world to me. So please, ARMY, promise me you'll be okay. Because if you can't breathe for yourself, I'll breathe for you."

He blows a kiss to the crowd and raises his fist in the air, a deliriously bright smile on his face. "Fighting!"

The crowd screams, and Jimin grins, tears rolling down his cheeks. 

* * *

Once they return to Korea, Jimin promptly passes out for a few hours. 

In the living room. With the other members of EXO occupying places spread around the room, and a few brave (and exhausted) souls simply face-planting in the carpet. 

Still, he manages to snag a few hours of sleep, at least. 

Key word being a few, as he's woken up by his phone having a seizure.

"Jimin..." Sehun groans from his position on the floor, "turn it off..."

"Sorry," Jimin mumbles, rubbing at his eyes. He gropes blindly for his phone, eventually finding it wedged between two couch cushions, and lifts it to his face, squinting at the screen.

"It's my manager," he notes, staring at the video call request. "I need t' take this."

He taps the accept call button, rubbing at his eyes as he does. "Manager-nim?" he mumbles, exhaustion evident. "It's... it's seven 'n the mornin'... wha's goin' on?"

"Jimin," Sejin gasps, the tears rolling down his cheeks a contrast to the bright smile on his face. "It's- they're back, Jimin."

Now fully awake, the dancer rolls off the couch, eyes wide. "What's going on?" he asks, ruffling his black and pink hair with his free hand. "Manager-nim, what's-"

"They're back," Sejin repeats with the same maddening level of vagueness. 

"Please don't play the pronoun game," Jimin sighs, turning on the coffeepot in the background. "It's too early for the pronoun game... I woke up what, five minutes ago?"

"Don't sass me," Sejin warns, and Jimin sighs yet again, exhaustion flickering in his gaze. 

"I'm sorry," Jimin groans, rubbing at his eyes blearily. "I'm just- we got home four hours ago, and I'm exhausted. I'm sorry..."

"We're getting off topic," Sejin states, and Jimin quirks a brow. "All you need to know is that they're back. All of them."

"You're not making any sense," Jimin laughs, a borderline hysterical sound. "You don't- who's back?"

"The Avengers brought them back," Sejin replies, voice slow and measured. "All of them."

Jimin's breath catches in his throat.

"You mean... they're... the other Bangtan members are-"

"Jiminie!" a group of voices shout, and Jimin covers his mouth to muffle a sob.

This is happening. This is really happening.

"Where are you?" Namjoon asks, and there's a commotion on the screen as the members steal the phone. "Everyone's worried about you."

"Jiminie!" Taehyung shouts from somewhere off-screen. "What happened?"

Jimin lets out a hoarse sob, tears streaming down his cheeks as he crumples to the ground. "You're all... you're all _here_..."

"Where are you?" Namjoon asks a second time, and Jimin raises his phone to capture the kitchen in its entirety.

"I-I'm in my kitchen," he stammers, still too shocked to form coherent thoughts. "Kyungsoo-hyung n-normally cooks around now, b-but we were up really late last night flying b-back from America..."

"Kyungsoo?" Yoongi asks, quirking a brow. "As in, EXO's Kyungsoo?"

"O-Oh..." Jimin trails off, unsure of how to phrase this. "I-I'm kinda... sorta... an honorary member of EXO now..."

There's a moment of drawn-out, painful, silence, as the other members digest Jimin's words.

And, like he expected, they explode.

"Park Jimin, you are _not_ leaving Bangtan!" Seokjin shouts. 

"How did this happen?" Namjoon asks, eyes widening in a mixture of curiosity and terror. "And when?"

"Jimin, don't you _dare_ leave!" Hoseok exclaims.

"You'd better stick around," Yoongi threatens, eyes going dark and dangerous.

"No! You can't leave!" Taehyung protests, tears rolling down his cheeks. "You're ours!"

"Hyung..." Jungkook trails off, gaze sad. "Please don't..."

"When did this happen?" Namjoon finally repeats. "And how did you make it back to Korea so fast? We were onstage just a few minutes ago!"

"You don't..." Jimin mutters, unable to finish his sentence. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" Namjoon asks, and Jimin sends invisible dagger-eyes to their manager through the screen. It is _too early_ to be doing this.

"You died," Jimin simply states. "Five years ago."

There's a second uproar, but throughout it, Namjoon remains quiet. Pensive. 

"I'm not surprised," he finally states, casting a gaze at a sobbing Taehyung. "And you... you're doing alright?"

"Once you get past the mental breakdowns and depression, just fine," Jimin dryly remarks, before remembering that this sort of dry, dead humor wasn't very common five years ago. Then again, in a dead world, dry humor's one of the few good ways to cope. "Wait, shit, I didn't mean-"

He lets out a long sigh, leaning back to rest his head against one of the cabinets. "Ugh, forget it. But yeah, I'm doing alright."

The others stare at him as though he's an exhibit in a museum instead of their friend, and Jimin _hates_ it. "Hey, don't look at me like that. It's weird."

"You're acting like Yoongi-hyung," Taehyung finally states, and Jimin sighs yet again.

"Wait, how old are you?" the man in question asks, and Jimin does some rapid mental math. 

"Twenty-nine?" he almost questions. Birthdays aren't... weren't a huge thing. It was more like "hooray, you survived another year that all of your friends and family didn't! congrats!" instead of a celebration. 

Deadpan humor strikes again.

"Twenty-nine," Namjoon breathes. "Shit."

"Namjoon," Seokjin absentmindedly chastises, still not really processing. 

"I guess I'm the oldest now, hyungs," Jimin dryly remarks. "Actually, is it hyungs?"

Taehyung bursts into a fresh wave of tears, and Seokjin and Yoongi both send Jimin dirty looks through the camera.

"Jiminie, who're you talking to?" Sehun mumbles, moving for the coffeepot. "It's too early for this."

"That's what I said," Jimin laughs, before remembering that this isn't perhaps the best time to be doing this. "Oh. They all came back. I'm talking to the rest of Bangtan."

"That's nice," Sehun mumbles, exhaustion evident. "Just make sure to rest up before the MV shooting later. Soobin always gets upset if you're tired... and then he yells at Junmyeonie-hyung. Please don't subject Junmyeonie-hyung to Soobin. Get some sleep."

"Sure, hyung," Jimin grins. "Purple you."

"Purple you too," Sehun mumbles, and Jimin's almost certain that wasn't meant to be in Chinese. 

He finally turns his attention back to the screen, only to be met with six expressions ranging from disbelief to horror. 

"What was that?" Yoongi finally demands, and Jimin shrugs.

"An exhausted Sehun?" he states, almost as though it's a question. "Poor hyung... he works too hard..."

"That's not what he meant," Namjoon rebukes, concern flashing in his gaze. "You can't-"

"Wait!" Sehun shouts, sliding back into the room. "You're talking to Bangtan?"

"There it is," Jimin deadpans, gaze flitting over Sehun's rumpled state. "Yes, hyung. I am."

"But they're _dead_ -"

"Evidently _not_ ," Yoongi snorts from the phone. "Seriously, if I had a thousand won for every time someone told me what I was _supposed_ to be, I'd be rich."

"You _are_ rich, hyung," Jungkook points out, and Yoongi quirks a brow.

"Yeah? So?"

Sehun stares, mouth opening and closing once or twice before he downs the entire cup of coffee and returns to the couch, presumably to tell the others.

"Well," Jimin grins, a bit more excitable now that he's awake. "That happened."

" _Twenty-nine_ ," Jungkook breathes, still in a state of shock. "You're _twenty-nine_."

"Yep," Jimin hums, placing the phone on the table. "One second. I need coffee in order to continue this conversation."

While he's pouring his drink, he can hear muffled conversations coming from the living room, mostly Yoongi questioning when Jimin became such a nihilist and Taehyung sobbing into a pillow. Poor guy.

"I'm back," he finally states, taking a long sip of the dark liquid. "What're your questions?"

"Can we still be same-aged friends?" Taehyung asks, eyes wide, and Jimin momentarily feels as though he's talking to a puppy.

"Sure, Tae," he smiles, and Taehyung looks... close to sated. 

"What happened to your hair?" Seokjin asks, leaning in as if to inspect the color himself. 

"Well, I first tried out this look a few years ago," Jimin grins, "way back for a music show. I just dyed over my Boy With Luv pink with some black, and I've really liked it, so I keep coming back to it. I've had purple, blue, orange, and green though."

 _"Green,"_ Seokjin mouths as Jungkook takes up the next question.

"Are you going to leave Bangtan?" he asks, and Jimin shakes his head furiously.

"Never," he states, pressing a hand to his heart. "I've never left Bangtan. _Never_. You know what I just got back from? A Bangtan tribute show. There's a very heart-wrenching speech that's probably on social media somewhere in which I say exactly what I think, and it's probably gonna make a lot more sense than I do right now, because I just want to sleep for a billion years."

"You're actually Yoongi-hyung," Taehyung remarks, voice a little bit sad. 

"What've you been doing?" Yoongi asks, staring at the camera with a force that could melt iron.

"You know," Jimin gestures to the dorm, "a bit of everything. Singing. Producing. Dancing. Rapping. Pretty much everything."

" _Rapping_?" Yoongi and Namjoon ask in unison, but Hoseok's already moved on.

"Can you meet us at the airport in a few hours?" he asks, and Jimin blinks, nods. 

"Joonie-hyung," he teases, "you still have a question, so make sure to think of something, m'kay?"

"Yeah..." Namjoon trails off, evidently in shock. "I will."

Jimin hangs up then, and proceeds to the couch, where a sleep-deprived EXO has already assembled for a group hug. He melts into their warm embrace and cries, not only out of joy, but also because he's not sure where he fits in this new (old) Bangtan anymore.

* * *

He's waiting in the airport, and understandably terrified. 

His earbuds are wedged in his ears, playing Galaxy (one of his songs with EXO) on repeat. Jongin and Jongdae flank him, though they're more there for moral support than anything else.

"What if they don't like me anymore?" Jimin murmurs. "What if they want me to leave Bangtan? What if they want me to leave _EXO_?"

"That won't happen," Jongdae promises him. "Junmyeon-hyung's meeting with the managers right now. We'll figure it out, Jiminie."

"Have a little faith in your hyungs," Jongin teases, and Jimin shoots them a reassuring grin. 

"Oh!" Jimin exclaims upon seeing people stream out of the gate. "They're here, hyungs! Ah... can I run? Please? Um... I can't do this..."

"You'll be fine," Jongdae assures him, bumping their foreheads together. "I know you will."

"Jimin!"

The crowd melts away, and Jongin and Jongdae disappear to... somewhere. Traitors.

Jimin turns, one earbud loose and his hair still horribly messy from when he kept running his hands through it. And yet, and yet, and yet.

That doesn't matter.

He stares at the rest of Bangtan, spellbound, and pinches his thigh to make sure he's not dreaming. "Hi," he rasps, a tear already sliding down his cheek. "I missed you guys."

The six of them surge forwards as one, and Jimin simply sobs as they wrap him in a group hug, tears streaming down his face. It's like a dream - perfect and _real_ \- and he tells the others as much.

"We're real," Taehyung assures him, and Jimin wails, burying his face in his best friend's (are they still best friends? really and truly?) shirt. 

"I-I missed you," he sobs, "s-so much..."

"I'm so sorry," Taehyung whispers. "I messed up really bad, huh?"

"Y-You _idiot_ ," Jimin whispers. "All of you... y-you _left_ me..."

"And we're sorry," Namjoon assures him. 

"It's been torture waiting to see you," Hoseok murmurs. "I can only imagine what you felt."

"I drank six bottles and punched the T.V.," Jimin sniffles. "I was so drunk I didn't even feel it when I stepped on the glass..."

"Jiminie..." Taehyung whispers, running his fingers through the elder's hair. "We're here now. You don't have to hurt any more."

"I keep thinking this is a dream," Jimin repeats. "Like I'll wake up and this'll all be fake. You'll all still be _dead_ , still be _gone_ , and I'll still be missing half my heart..."

"We're here," Seokjin soothes, and Jimin sobs yet again, lithe frame wracked with the motions. 

"I _know_ ," Jimin whispers. "I _know_. So why... why am I crying?"

He closes his eyes then, content to simply _be_ for a moment. It's perfect, idyllic, and he'll be damned if he lets the monster that is the utter impossibility of this situation take over. 

Despite how pressing it may be.


	2. after

They're at the BBMAs, and Taehyung is _excited_.

It's not every day that they get to perform somewhere this big, much less in _America_. It's amazing that they've come this far, and he'd have thought that the others would be just as excited as he is.

And yet, that doesn't seem to be the case. 

Jimin stands apart from the group, toying idly with his stage uniform. His lips are pursed into a frown, and he generally looks... scared. Not nervous, like Taehyung would expect, but... scared. As though he's afraid something bad will happen.

"Jiminie?" Taehyung murmurs, crossing the room to stand in front of his best friend. It takes Jimin a terrifyingly long time to notice his presence, and even when he does eventually drag his gaze to Taehyung's eyes, his own are dull and empty. 

"Oh," Jimin states, voice flat. "Hi."

"Are you okay?" Taehyung asks, reaching up to cup Jimin's head with his hand. "You look..."

"I'm fine," Jimin replies, voice not changing in pitch whatsoever. "I'm alright. Just... scared, I guess."

Taehyung smiles, readily accepting the excuse. "It'll be okay!" he smiles, leaning in to bump their foreheads together. His hand reaches to grab Jimin's, and their friendship bracelets hit each other, a soft bump that seems to help ground the dancer. "We're just going out to perform!"

Jimin's gaze flits over his face, and eventually his lips turn up into a small smile.

_"Presenting: BTS!"_

Taehyung grabs Jimin's small hand and leads him onstage, and the bright lights are blinding for a moment before he blinks the spots away. They take their places, the music starts, and everything is right with the world.

Until Yoongi's rap interlude.

Taehyung feels it - a churning thing in the pit of his stomach. Jimin's still in front of him, still moving to the music, but he can't. It feels like he's falling. It feels like he's flying.

He reaches for Jimin, mouth opening to say _something_ \- a plea for help? last words? - but it's not meant to be. Before his eyes, his hand dissolves, and the rest of him as his eyes flutter shut-

And he's standing onstage again, the room filled with the clamor of fans and no Jimin to be seen.

The music stopped.

"What happened?" he asks, though the crowd doesn't seem to know either. "What...?"

Namjoon turns and races off-stage, and Taehyung and the others soon follow. They've all learned to trust their leader's gut judgements, but whatever's happening right now seems _way_ out of left field.

"Joon," Seokjin tries, but Namjoon's clearly on a mission. "Joon. Listen to me."

"People are missing," Namjoon simply states. "Manager-nim. Jimin. Something's wrong."

"Namjoon!" someone shouts, and the group (sans Jimin) turns to see Sejin racing towards them.

But it's wrong. 

He looks _older_ , somehow. As though it's been years since they've last seen him, which is most _definitely_ wrong.

He stops short, tears spilling down his cheeks. "You're all... you're all here. Alright. I have to call Jimin."

"What happened?" Namjoon asks, but Sejin doesn't seem to be listening. He taps some buttons on his phone (Taehyung's never seen a phone like that before) and holds it in front of him, apparently awaiting something. "Manager-nim. Where's Jimin."

It rings once, twice, three times, and Sejin grins once the screen flickers into an image."Manager-nim?" someone mumbles, voice foggy with sleep. "It's... it's seven 'n the mornin'... wha's goin' on?"

"Jimin," Sejin gasps, and Taehyung momentarily forgets how to breathe. This is Jimin? Where is he? Why isn't he here? Why does he sound so weird? "It's- they're back, Jimin."

"What's going on?" the person (Jimin?) asks, concern evidently mounting. "Manager-nim, what's-"

"They're back," Sejin repeats, and an audible sigh floats through the phone. Damn. This can't be their Jimin. This sassy spitfire of whatever he is _cannot_ be their Jimin _._ It's relieving to acknowledge that much, at least.

"Please don't play the pronoun game," the spitfire sasses, and there's the click of a coffeepot turning on in the background. Is this one of their producers that Taehyung hasn't met yet? Jimin is a pretty common name, after all. "It's too early for the pronoun game... I woke up what, five minutes ago?"

"Don't sass me," Sejin snaps, and the sassy producer sighs yet again.

"I'm sorry," he groans, and Taehyung and the others exchange glances. "I'm just- we got home four hours ago, and I'm exhausted. I'm sorry..."

"We're getting off topic," Sejin states, and Taehyung blinks. Wow. He's not having any of this. "All you need to know is that they're back. All of them."

"You're not making any sense," the person laughs, and it's vaguely familiar. "You don't- who's back?"

"The Avengers brought them back," Sejin replies, and Taehyung must look as confused as he feels, because Namjoon shakes his head. He doesn't know what's happening either, then. "All of them."

"You mean... they're... the other Bangtan members are..."

The person trails off, and the rest of the group seems to have decided on something.

"Jiminie!" they shout, and Taehyung flinches, because this is _not correct_. This isn't their Jimin. Taehyung knows Jimin, and this- this whoever-he-is is _not Jimin_.

Sejin passes the phone to Namjoon, and Taehyung looks over, freezing in place once he does.

This _is_ Jimin. He looks older, with black hair shot through with streaks of Boy With Luv pink and deep bags underscoring his dark eyes. He looks tired, drained, but still happy, even as Namjoon says something he doesn't quite process.

"Jiminie!" he exclaims, worry evident in his voice. "What happened?"

Jimin sobs, curling in on himself as a strangled phrase escapes his lips. "You're all... you're all _here_..."

"Where are you?" Namjoon asks, and the picture on-screen changes to that of a kitchen.

"I-I'm in my kitchen," Jimin stammers, and Taehyung frowns, because that is _not their kitchen_. "Kyungsoo-hyung n-normally cooks around now, b-but we were up really late last night flying b-back from America..."

So were they only out for a day, then? That'd be great.

(Taehyung knows that's not true)

"Kyungsoo?" Yoongi asks, and the others watch him with mild concern. "As in, EXO's Kyungsoo?"

"O-Oh..." Jimin trails off, and there's an awkward moment of silence. "I-I'm kinda... sorta... an honorary member of EXO now..."

_No._

"No, you can't leave!" Taehyung protests. "You're ours!"

"When did this happen?" Namjoon prods, and Jimin flinches, eyes widening imperceptibly. "And how did you make it back to Korea so fast? We were onstage just a few minutes ago!"

Jimin simply stares, the same hollow, dead look in his eyes from just a few minutes prior. "You don't..." he finally forces out, eyes old and empty and _so, so sad_. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" Namjoon asks, and Taehyung _doesn't want to know_ because somehow, he thinks, they shouldn't hear this.

"You died," Jimin murmurs, and Taehyung feels something inside him shatter. "Five years ago."

 _Five years_. His best friend's been alone for _five years_. Missing Bangtan for _five years._

He sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks at the thought of Jimin's suffering. It's not fair. It's not fair that Jimin should look this beaten-down, this hurt, this cynical and jaded and nihilistic to the point where he barely resembles the person he was. He's too good for this.

And he's scared.

He doesn't recognize his friend anymore.

* * *

They wrap up their Jimin interview, and Taehyung barely remembers any of it. 

No, instead he fishes out his antiquated phone and keys in what he hopes will bring up the result he wants: _"Bangtan tribute concert Jimin"_.

The first thing that comes up is a subtitled fan cam, and he beckons the others over so they can see it as well. They all pile together on the couch, peering at the tiny screen of Taehyung's phone in hopes of seeing this new Jimin.

And _wow_.

It starts with some casual banter between Jimin and two people he _thinks_ are Baekhyun and Jongin from EXO, but he's not sure. Jongin demonstrates the shoulder reveal, and Taehyung snorts as their back-and-forth, before remembering that that is exactly _not_ why they're watching this video.

Finally, EXO's leader prods Jimin to start the speech, and there's a moment of panicked fumbling before he starts.

_"Bangtan Sonyeondan changed my life way back on June 12th, 2013. I mean, back before that, I was just someone who was 'going to debut someday'. I didn't... I never thought I'd be here. Ever. Hah. But here I am. And I can proudly say that Bangtan... my family... they mean the world to me. Even if they can't hear this, I'm going to say it anyways."_

Taehyung clenches his hands into fists, squeezing his eyes shut. Jimin can be entirely too thoughtful sometimes.

_"Namjoon-hyung, you're astonishing, honestly. You know English and you can rap in it as well as you can in Korean. I... cannot do that. But I have such respect for you, RM-hyung, not only for your vocals - which are good, stop fighting it - but also for your leadership skills. I'll never forget you."_

The man in question stares at the screen, mouth hanging open and eyes going slightly glassy. "Jimin..." he murmurs, voice laden with unshed tears.

_"Jin-hyung, you're absolutely amazing and you need more lines. I love your vocals, your face, mister World-Wide-Handsome, and your amazing cooking. You're such a great hyung, and I don't know how we'd have survived without you by our sides. Don't let anyone belittle you, because you are absolutely mind-blowing."_

"This kid," Seokjin laughs, tears streaming down his face. "How is he this thoughtful?"

_"Yoongi-hyung, hear my offering and tune in, because you're probably asleep."_

Of course, Hoseok bursts out laughing, and Yoongi smacks the back of his head in retaliation.

 _"_ I _think you'd be proud of my rapping, somehow, because every time I'm not sure what emotion to give to a song, it's like I can hear your voice in my ear. Chastising me, mostly, for not taking good enough care of myself, thanks, hyung, you hypocrite, but it always helps."_

_"I'm fine, though! EXO's making me eat at least two meals a day!"_

_"Jiminie,"_ one of the EXO members states, and Taehyung hates the way Jimin perks up, eyes brightening as he turns. _"You need to eat something."_

 _"Right on time,"_ Jimin laughs, and it's, bizarrely, _happy_. _"Thanks, hyung."_

_"Where was I? Oh! Hobi-hyung! He's all of our hopes, right? The amazing J-Hope! Hyung, you're an incredible dancer, and an amazing rapper! Not to mention a great singer! I mean... you're just so happy all the time too, and your dancing is truly a work of art. Thank you so much!"  
_

Hoseok covers his mouth with his hands, muffling the sob that tears its way out of his throat. "Jiminie..."

 _"Hmm..."_ he mumbles, and Taehyung knows what's coming next. _"Tae. Taehyung. Taehyungie. V. No matter what you want me to call you, you're still my best friend. You're such an amazing singer, and an amazing rapper, even if you don't do that as much as you really should. You're an amazing visual too, and I don't know what I'd have done without you. I miss you so much, Tae. And I purple you, always and forever."_

He curls in on himself, sobs wracking his frame as he wails into his knees. It's not _fair_.

_"Finally, Kookie. Our maknae. The golden maknae. It's not fair, is it? I mean, you had so much to do. So much to live for. You're such an amazing singer that it's awe-inspiring. And such a great dongsaeng, too! I don't... you should be alive."_

He feels someone press into his side, and he realizes with a start that it's Jungkook. Poor kid.

_"Bangtan changed my life. I owe them for everything I have now, honestly, because they saw potential in the short dancer from Busan. I mean, I keep thinking someday I'll wake up and this'll all be a fever dream, like Bangtan debuted without me, and... well. I really do miss them. Every single day. And I just- I miss them so much it hurts. We've all lost someone we care about, right? We've all been hurt by this. We've all... we're all hurting, still. Because the wounds never really heal. They just scab over a bit. Maybe it's a little thing, like opening your phone to message someone who's not going to respond. I know I do that. Maybe it's a bigger thing, like finding an old video of them. I do that too, actually. But you know what I know? They'd want us to move forwards."_

Taehyung thinks back to the hundred or so missed messages on his phone, and has to fight the urge to vomit. All from Jimin. All to someone he knew would never respond.

_"They wouldn't want us to forget, but they wouldn't want us to stop, either. Because healing doesn't mean forgetting. It means accepting your scars and loving them. It means learning to make your heart bigger, to make up for the bit that died. It means remembering to breathe, even when you just want to hold your breath, because it'd make them happier than anything to know you're still breathing. I'm not saying this is easy, because it's not. I mean, some days I still hate myself for living, when all of them didn't. But on those days, I just remind myself that as long as I can make someone smile, I'm not worthless. That there's a reason I'm still here, and that reason is to make all of the Dust-Children out there smile. All of the ARMYs out there smile. Because all of you deserve love, even if you don't think you do. And even if there's nobody out there that you think loves you, then remember that I do. I love each and every one of you out there. I love all of the groups backstage, and my EXO hyungs, who are lurking awkwardly at the back of the stage. Because to do this - to pay tribute to my family... it means the world to me. So please, ARMY, promise me you'll be okay. Because if you can't breathe for yourself, I'll breathe for you."_

"When did he become such a good speaker?" Seokjin murmurs, eyes flying over the captions at the bottom of the screen. "And in English, too."

Taehyung watches as Jimin raises a fist in the air, tears streaming down his cheeks. _"Fighting!"_

The video ends there, and he simply feels numb. Knowing Jimin is different is one thing, but actually _seeing_ it is _quite_ another. 

The next video pops up, and he doesn't even bother to stop it. It's one of Jimin's solo videos, and he's incredibly surprised to see it's a full-blown MV.

The song starts like the BBMAs did, and Jimin smiles as a group of people before heading out onstage. But when it hits the chorus-

The lights cut out.

And it's replaced with real footage.

Taehyung's heart _aches_ upon seeing it. Not only them dissolving into dust, but Jimin's reaction. 

Simple disbelief.

And the video cuts back to Jimin, standing alone on a black stage, the only light his phone screen. Taehyung can't understand the lyrics, as they're all in English, but by the rhythm, he can tell it's a mixture of vocals and rap.

The perspective changes yet again, and Jimin's standing in the spotlight, dust swirling around his ankles as he sings, an expression of utter _despair_ on his face. And he doesn't need to know English to tell the story this MV is trying to convey.

"What's he saying?" Yoongi asks, and Namjoon shakes his head, expression carefully blank. "Joon?"

On-screen, Jimin walks around the stage, and it's interspersed with footage of bright lights, pounding music, roaring crowds, before it cuts back to Jimin. Alone.

"He's not angry," Taehyung murmurs, able to pick out one phrase from the mass of rapid-fire words. "He's just lonely."

Namjoon seems to have abandoned any and all thoughts of translating, despite the rest of the Rap Line's pleas. He simply watches, and Taehyung doesn't miss how the hurt in his eyes deepens with each passing phrase.

"Joon, what's this song called?" Yoongi asks, nudging the leader with his elbow. "I'm looking up a translation."

"I don't know if you want to," Namjoon murmurs, shaking his head. "This is..."

"I don't care," Yoongi hisses. "What is it _called_?"

"Dark Matter," Namjoon whispers, and Yoongi nods, keying in the phrase.

Taehyung's gaze is pinned on the screen, where Jimin lies in a field of grass, no lights in sight. He reaches towards the camera, and the view flips, showing a pitch-black sky devoid of stars.

He murmurs a soft phrase in Korean as the piano plays, a silent whisper that they almost don't catch.

_"The sky looks empty with its stars stolen."_

"Wow," Yoongi breathes, gaze flying over the page. "This is... wow. Would you believe me if I told you this is one of the deepest things I've seen in a long time?"

"Yes," Hoseok and Taehyung immediately reply. In unison. Wow, this is going weird fast.

"Wait!" Jungkook exclaims, pointing to the screen. The video's still playing, but this time it's Jimin with fourteen others. He can somewhat guess that the nine older ones are EXO, but it takes him a moment to place the pastel-haired youngers. "That's our TXT dongsaengs!"

Taehyung watches as Jimin trades casual banter with them, and 'aww's at the adorableness of one of the members (Huening Kai, he thinks) placing a pair of cat ears on Jimin's head. At least their adorable concept hasn't changed.

It cuts back to Jimin walking alone through a dark field, surrounded by fireflies. Something catches his attention, and he turns, eyes wide in anticipation.

The fourteen others are silhouetted by the rising sun, and Jongin raises his hand in welcoming. Jimin beams, racing towards them, and the video closes on a still image of Jimin tackling Jongin to the ground, the others watching with fond expressions on their face.

Taehyung knows he shouldn't feel as jealous as he does, and yet he does anyways.

(Namjoon leaves a folded piece of paper on the table after he leaves, and Taehyung opens it to see an incredibly depressing phrase scrawled on it. _"It's hard to lie, but it's easy to die."_ )

(He wonders who wrote it)

* * *

The plane ride back to Korea is its own brand of torture.

Taehyung downloaded all of Jimin's discography over the five years they were gone, and found himself dismayed to see there're almost as many albums as Bangtan has. He's collaborated with an insane number of people, including a few American artists, and Taehyung is mildly jealous.

He decides to go in chronological order, and makes his way to year four before the plane lands. Averaging two solo albums and three collaborative albums a year with EXO, Jimin's truly impressive. Not to mention the singles he's released, or his collaborations with TXT. 

As soon as the plane lands, they make a break for it, racing out of the gate as soon as humanly possible. They catch sight of Jimin talking with a silver-haired man, before he bumps their foreheads together and disappears into the crowd. 

"Jimin!" Taehyung shouts, waving like an absolute maniac. The dancer turns, hair messy and deep bags underscoring his dark eyes, but a horrible vulnerability in his gaze all the same. 

"Hi," he whispers, and Taehyung has to strain his ears to hear it. Tears roll down his cheeks as he smiles, and he reaches up to wipe them away. "I missed you guys."

The six of them rush forwards, and Taehyung latches onto Jimin's waist, the elder burying his face in his shoulder. "A-Am I dreaming?" he murmurs, and Taehyung reaches up to wipe away a tear. "I-I'm so _happy_..."

Taehyung's heart shatters in his chest.

"We're real," he assures him, and Jimin lets out a heartbreaking wail, burying his face in Taehyung's shirt. His tears seep into the fabric, but Taehyung couldn't care less. 

"I-I missed you," Jimin whispers, and Taehyung's heart breaks further. "S-So much..."

"I'm so sorry," Taehyung murmurs, running his fingers through the elder's messy hair. "I messed up really bad, huh?"

"Y-You _idiot_ ," Jimin breathes, laughter lingering at the edge of his voice. "All of you... y-you _left_ me..."

"And we're sorry," Namjoon assures him, and Taehyung nods. He'll spend the rest of his life apologizing for this, if that's what it takes.

"It's been torture waiting to see you," Hoseok smiles, a reassuring and familiar thing that has Jimin crying again. "I can only imagine what you felt."

"I drank six bottles and punched the T.V.," Jimin sniffles, and Taehyung hates himself for letting this happen. For letting his _best friend_ hurt this way. "I was so drunk I didn't even feel it when I stepped on the glass..."

"Jiminie..." Taehyung murmurs, because, really, what else can he say? Nothing can make up for this. "We're here now. You don't have to hurt any more."

"I keep thinking this is a dream," Jimin rasps, voice hoarse from tears. "Like I'll wake up and this'll all be fake. You'll all still be _dead_ , still be _gone_ , and I'll still be missing half my heart..."

If Thanos wasn't already dead, Taehyung would tear him limb from limb for hurting their mochi this way.

"We're here," Seokjin soothes, and Jimin wails, wrapping his arms around Taehyung's waist and _squeezing_.

"I _know_ ," Jimin whispers, nodding slightly. "I _know_. So why... why am I crying?"

* * *

There's a minuscule debate once Jimin falls asleep (in Taehyung's _arms_ ) about whose dorm he's going to return to.

Oddly enough, Namjoon and Jongdae both seem to be arguing for the other side.

"He'd probably feel safer waking up in EXO's dorm," Namjoon points out, and Jongdae sighs, a long, weary thing.

"How does Junmyeon do this..." he mumbles. "Why don't you all come over to our dorm for a bit? We've already proven that ten people can splay themselves out over our couches slash floor, so it should work. Besides, we still haven't gotten a cleaning crew."

"You can't get blood out after five years," Jongin sighs. "Why did we never deal with that?"

"Because it didn't _matter_ ," Jongdae retorts. "And besides, all of Jimin's stuff is over at our dorm. Does that work?"

"Sure," Taehyung interjects before Namjoon can say anything. He gestures to the dancer on his back, smiling softly as Jimin hums, burying his face in his neck. "As long as Junmyeon-sunbaenim and Minseok-sunbaenim are okay with it."

"I'll call them," Jongdae smiles. "You guys can head to the van."

The four hyungs exchange wary looks, but Taehyung and Jungkook are already following Jongin. No point in arguing, after all.

"You can just call me Jongin-hyung," the singer smiles, turning to grin at them. "And I think Jongdae-hyung thinks the same. So does Jimin, actually. Says someone calling him 'sunbaenim' makes him feel old. I keep _telling_ him you can't feel old if you haven't broken thirty, but he doesn't care."

"What's he like?" Taehyung asks, gesturing to the sleeping dancer on his back. "Now, I mean."

"Mmm... he was nervous about seeing you guys again," he hums. "He was worried you wouldn't like him or something. Which is kinda irrational, but I get it, I guess. It's hard for him."

"What do you mean?" Taehyung prods, and Jongin sighs.

"It's not really my place to tell," he murmurs, and Taehyung groans. "It's better if you hear it from him and not from me. He doesn't tell us everything. _Especially_ not Sehun, so please don't ask him. He doesn't like bothering us as much as he should."

"Not true," Jimin grumbles. "You all are just so busy that I never have time to talk to you."

"Jimin, we have the same schedule," Jongin deadpans, and Jimin whines.

"Doesn't matter," he mumbles. "Busy."

Jongin shoots Taehyung a look that screams "look-what-I-have-to-deal-with" and Taehyung busts out laughing, tugging Jungkook into a side hug.

"Do you talk to TXT?" Jongin asks, and Jimin nods. 

"But they're my favorite dongsaengs..." he mumbles. "The most precious and adorable dongsaengs... my cotton candy puppy dongsaengs..."

"Then what are we?" Taehyung laughs, and Jimin hums, quirking a brow.

"I didn't really think about it," he admits. "Kookie's my shiny, sparkly dongsaeng, and I'm not calling you my dongsaeng because soulmates don't call each other dongsaengs. You're... you're my Taehyungie... no matter what..."

Taehyung's lips curve into a fond smile upon hearing Jimin's tired ramblings, and his smile only grows when Jimin laces his arms around his neck, letting out a contented sigh as he nuzzles into Taehyung's hair. "Your hair is so soft, Taehyungie..." he mumbles, and Taehyung melts under his (five year senior's) adorableness.

"Is he always this cute?" Taehyung whispers, and Jongin nods.

He _hates_ that he has to ask.

"People keep assuming he's part of TXT and not EXO," Jongin frowns. "Even event coordinators. We made him dye his hair purple one time so people would figure it out, but it just made it _worse_. Junmyeon and Soobin got into a _huge_ fight because nobody told them what was going on when Jiminie went to go chat with Kai about maknae stuff. Sehunie just seemed happy they didn't ask him about it. I think he's actually in a group chat - Jiminie, I mean. Him and TXT, though Sehunie might be in it too. They're like... tiny conspirators. Sneaky kids."

"Mean..." Jimin mumbles, eyes drooping yet again. "Mmm... I'm tired..."

"We'll talk with Sejin-ssi about a break, alright, Jiminie?" Jongdae asks, appearing from seemingly nowhere. "You're way overdue for one anyways."

"But..." Jimin murmurs, voice strangely sad. "But... the Dust-Children... I can't just... and ARMY, they'll want to see me..."

"Jimin, the last time you took a break was after Eclipse," Jongin reminds him. "We'll talk about this in the morning, but Junmyeon-hyung might just overrule you anyways."

 _Wow_ , Taehyung feels unneeded in this conversation.

They arrive at the van, and Taehyung slides Jimin into his arms before carrying him to the backseat.. It's large enough to fit ten, and the two youngest climb into the backseat, Jimin nestled between them.

"Make sure to look out," Jongdae warns, gesturing to Jimin's knee-high boots. "There's probably a knife in there."

"A _what_?" Taehyung exclaims, eyes widening with worry. " _Why_?"

"A while back, an idol group got mugged on the street," Jongin murmurs. "Jimin was terrified for us and TXT, and he wanted to be able to protect us if it came down to that. So he carries a knife in his boot. Every so often, if we're doing something really dangerous, he'll bring his halberd."

"His _what_?" Namjoon and Seokjin exclaim in unison, worry evident. 

"Someone made him a real halberd for our Fury MV," Jongdae sighs. "And he got to keep it after filming wrapped on Tempest. So he has a really long and sharp weapon in his room that none of us touch except for Jongin."

"He's teaching me how to use it," the dancer smiles, and Jongdae sighs yet again.

"Is this safe?" Seokjin asks, and Jongin shakes his head.

"But he does it anyways," he mutters. "Crazy."

"We're going to have words later," Seokjin grumbles. "This is _unsafe_."

"You're welcome to try," Jongdae sighs, a world-weariness to his voice. "Please. Maybe you'll be able to talk sense into him."

Taehyung tunes out their bickering and rests his head on Jimin's shoulder, eyes sliding shut. It's late, and he's _tired_.

He falls asleep to the sound of gentle breathing, and a warm hand on his. 

* * *

He's woken up at three in the morning by muffled crying.

They're all draped across EXO's couches, and all in various states of using others as pillows. He smiles upon seeing even the elder members asleep, with the Rap Line curled up together on one couch, Hoseok sandwiched between Yoongi and Namjoon. Seokjin's draped over the back of one, Jungkook's head resting on his chest and his arms around the eldest's waist.

So who's crying?

And where's Jimin?

Bangtan's eldest (which he's _never_ going to get used to) is curled up in a small ball on the floor, lithe frame shaking with sobs. The room is pitch-black, but Taehyung can still see the faintest slivers of light reflecting off his eyes.

Footsteps break the silence, and Taehyung's eyes snap to the doorway, where they meet Chanyeol's wide-eyed gaze.

"I knew this would happen," he sighs, crossing the room to sit next to Jimin. "Taehyung. C'mere. You need to learn how to do this. 'Cause nobody in EXO is gonna let Jimin stay at your place if none of you can do this."

"Don't wake them up," Jimin whispers. "I'm okay."

"Which was it?" Chanyeol asks, running soothing hands through Jimin's hair. 

"I s-saw... I saw Kai... and Sehun-hyung... and Kook... a-and they were alone... a-and it was d-dark... a-and I w-wasn't there, a-and they g-got attacked, a-and I couldn't do a-anything..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Chanyeol soothes. "D'ya wanna see Sehun? I'm sure he'd be okay with it. Or Jungkook?"

"C-Can you get Sehunie-hyung?" Jimin whispers. "I don't... I don't want Kookie to see me like this."

"Okay," Chanyeol murmurs. "Taehyung, can you stay with him while I get Sehun?"

"Yeah," Taehyung grins, though it comes out weak and flat. "Yeah. Jiminie, can you talk to me?"

"Where's Sehun?" Jimin whispers, voice shaking horribly. "Sehunie-hyung... I need to see Sehun-hyung..."

"He's coming," Taehyung soothes, trying to ignore the way his heart shatters in his chest. "Chanyeol-sunbaenim's going to wake him up."

"I-I'm sorry," Jimin sobs, hands latching onto Taehyung's oversized tee. "P-Please don't go again. I'm sorry, I-I'm sorry, _please_ don't leave..."

"It's okay," Taehyung smiles, rubbing soft circles into Jimin's back. "It's alright. You're alright, Chim-Chim."

"I-I'm sorry," Jimin whispers. "I'm s-so... _s-so_ sorry..."

"It's alright," Taehyung soothes. "It's alright."

The sound of soft steps rings through the room, and Taehyung turns to see Sehun and Chanyeol approaching. Jimin launches himself at the younger, tears streaming down his face as Sehun cards his fingers through his black hair, whispering soothing phrases into his ear.

"You did well," Chanyeol murmurs, and Taehyung shakes his head.

"I didn't know what to do," he admits, and Chanyeol gives him a soft smile.

"None of us really did at first," the elder replies. "You learn."

"What if it's not fast enough?" Taehyung mumbles, and Chanyeol sighs, wrapping an arm around the younger's shoulders. 

"Then you have your EXO hyungs to help you," he murmurs, and Taehyung smiles, crossing the room to wrap his arms around Jimin's waist. He buries his face in the other's dark hair, and Jimin leans back to smile at him.

"You a bit better now, Jiminie?" he asks, and Jimin nods, tears swimming in his eyes. 

"Did I wake you up?" he mumbles, and his eyes are so _sad_. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"It's alright," Taehyung smiles, wiping a tear off his cheek with the pad of his thumb. "You're my best friend even if you're crying. You're my best friend even if you're five years older with tiger-stripe hair and a knife in your boot. Because every time I look at you, I still see my favorite Jiminie."

Oh, no. Jimin's crying even _harder_ now. Abort mission!

"Ah, Jiminie, I-"

"Thank you," Jimin whispers, and Taehyung smiles, reaching up to cup Jimin's face in his hands. "Thank you so much, _Tae_ -"

His voice breaks on the name, and with it, tears spill anew. He buries his face in Taehyung's shirt, tears seeping into the fabric, and if Taehyung could make this all better with words alone, he would.

"We're here," he murmurs. "We're here, Jiminie."

* * *

They go to a small cafe in the middle of Seoul, and Taehyung's not entirely sure what to think.

Jimin bounces between the two groups like a hyperactive puppy, a happy smile on his face. EXO regards him with soft smiles and softer touches, and Bangtan seems... oddly separate. Detached.

Taehyung doesn't like it.

"So, what's this place called?" he asks, and Jimin smiles before his expression droops.

"Oh... I... I actually don't know," Jimin laughs, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "But they have some really great drinks here! I mean, they even have drinks themed after us!"

"What's mine like?" Taehyung wonders, and Jimin smiles.

"Yours is... sorta fruity," Jimin smiles. "It's kinda like apple-cinnamon. And it's got lots of colors, too."

"Really?" Taehyung grins, already excited. "That sounds awesome!"

He turns slightly, fixing the other members with a deadly glare. "Aren't you guys excited?"

"Yeah!" Hoseok grins, bounding up to them and throwing his arms over their shoulders. "What's my drink like, Jimin?"

"It's got a lot of strong and explosive flavors, and a _lot_ of sugar!" Jimin beams, apparently delighted to be receiving attention. "I've had it a few times, and it reminds me of you!"

"What do your hyungs get?" Taehyung asks, and Jimin laughs.

"They either get my drink or the cosmic latte," he giggles. "Every time."

"What's your drink taste like?" Hoseok wonders, and Jimin laughs.

"It's really really bitter," he smiles, "but it has a super sweet aftertaste. Bad before good, I guess. That's why I get it."

"But you're so sweet!" Taehyung whines, and Jimin quirks a brow, gesturing to his black hair.

"I'm going for the edgy thing," he giggles. "Plus, it looks a lot more like a star now. Like... a galaxy, I guess. A bit like the cosmic latte, but also a bit like stardust."

"I love the cosmic latte!" Baekhyun chirps, falling back to Jimin's side. "Are you telling them about their drinks? I've had a few of them. Namjoon's is really pearish."

"Pearish?" Jimin laughs, though he's nodding regardless. "Yeah... it's pretty pearish. Lots of pear."

"Why are you talking about pears?" Hoseok teases. "He's not, like, a walking pear."

"Isn't he, though?" Baekhyun asks, and Jimin playfully smacks him.

"He's a _linguini_ , clearly," Jimin pouts. "You're all wrong."

"Linguini coffee is gross," Taehyung muses. "It's all squishy and slimy..."

"Why do you know this?" Hoseok asks, and Taehyung winks at him.

"There is it!" Jimin chirps, pointing at a tiny cafe. "Ah, it's so nice to be back here!"

"It's been three days, Jiminie," Sehun teases, and Jimin pouts.

"But it's my _favorite_ , Sehunie-hyung," Jimin whines. "You don't understand."

"Bold of you to assume it's not his favorite too," Kyungsoo remarks, and Jimin wails.

"Why are all of my hyungs against me?" he laments, draping himself dramatically over Taehyung. "Tae... save me from these mean hyungs..."

Sehun looks so panicked that it's honestly hilarious.

"All of you except Sehunie-hyung are dead to me," Jimin states, and Sehun looks ridiculously relieved. "Because he's my nicest hyung."

Jongin squawks in protest, and the rest of EXO simply laughs. 

They all order their drinks and sit down, and Jimin's eyes glint mischievously as he scans the group. "Mmm... whose drink should I steal today?" he muses, and a fair portion of EXO simply sighs.

"Not today, Jiminie," Junmyeon sighs. "Hyung has a meeting."

"So do I," Yixing mumbles, a dark aura seemingly filling their side of the table. The two look upset, and Jimin _definitely_ notices.

"You're not going back to China!" Jimin exclaims, slamming his hands on the table. Drinks fly, and Yixing barely manages to stop his from spilling all over the table. Namjoon, unfortunately, isn't so lucky. "I won't let you!"

"It's not up to us," Junmyeon mumbles. "You know this, Jiminie."

"And they'll call him a traitor in China," Jongdae murmurs. "I miss the days when people didn't care."

"That was nice..." Jongin sighs.

"But he's already getting hate," Minseok points out. "If we can stop that... if we can make things easier for him..."

"Why do people even _care_!" Jimin exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. "Hyung working in Korea shouldn't _matter_! All of this... it shouldn't _matter_! I mean, they even disarmed the missile thing, didn't they? Why do people still _care_?"

"Because people don't care about stuff like that, Jiminie," Yixing sighs. "I'm going to have to head back to China anyways-"

"I won't accept that," Jimin hisses, pausing to take a sip of his drink. "I won't. Because that's not fair to you. It's an antiquated problem that makes no real sense, especially considering we've been doing this for _five years_ and _nobody cared_. EXO _is_ a ten member group, and it's sure as _hell_ going to stay that way."

Taehyung's almost certain that Bangtan collectively flinches at the dancer's words, and Namjoon in particular looks deeply wounded. Though, in a way, it's to be expected. Jimin's been with EXO almost as long as he's been with Bangtan, after all.

"I don't wanna choose," Jimin murmurs, sitting down and burying his face in his cup. "I don't. Because... there's just... there's not a right answer."

"There is," Yoongi hisses, barely audible but heard by Jimin and Taehyung nonetheless. "And you know what it is."

Jimin's expression _shatters_ , though it was already practically glass in its fragility. "I... hyung, I just-"

"We'll make it work," Junmyeon states, folding his hands and glaring at the rapper with an intensity that could cut iron. "Because that's what we _do_."

Namjoon returns the gaze, though his is more curiosity with a hint of attempted intimidation. "If it's possible..." he trails off, staring into the depths of his drink. "If it's possible, we'll make it work. We always have."

"You think we're tethered by the possible?" Chanyeol grins, taking a slow sip from his comic latte. "Nah. We're EXOplanetary, after all."

Jimin beams, toying absentmindedly with the small stars that adorn his ears. Damn, how did Taehyung miss those?

His thumb stops on a purple heart, one that's chipped, slightly faded, and clearly worn out. His lips curl into a soft smile, and he closes his eyes for a moment before reopening them, a sort of strange sadness in his gaze.

"You alright?" Chanyeol asks, leaning across the table to stare at the dancer. Jimin nods furiously, hiding his mouth behind his cup, though Taehyung can see his lower lip quivering.

 _Wow_ , this is going bad quickly.

"Let's dance," Jongin states, grasping Jimin's wrist and hauling him to his feet. The younger squeaks, though his eyes light up when Jongin pulls out his phone and places it on the provided speaker. Two women watch them with a pair of fond smiles, and Taehyung smiles at the matching rings adorning their fingers, as well as the purple hearts and stars in their ears. 

The song starts, and Taehyung loses himself in Jimin's delighted grin as the pair twirl and move, hands intertwined in an intricate dance. It's powerful but still elegant, and it's something bordering on interpretive, which Taehyung certainly didn't expect. 

Wow. 

He shoves everything else to the back of his mind for a moment, delighting in Jimin's temporary happiness. Because, really, isn't that all they can do?

* * *

 _Why_ do fan-wars _continue_ to happen?

Taehyung clenches his hand into a fist before forcing it open, laying it on Jimin's shoulder and pulling his friend into his side. Jimin sniffles, tears rolling down his cheeks, and it's almost depressing to see him this upset.

Though, really, considering the fact that pretty much half of ARMY is calling him a traitor, that's to be expected. 

He and EXO just released their new track, which has been in development since before the Unsnap. And, really, all they had to do was some final recordings and they could release it. 

It... didn't go well, to say the least.

He found Jimin a few hours ago, staring blankly at the computer screen with tears running down his cheeks. The screen was open to their YouTube channel, and, more specifically, the page after page of scrolling hate comments.

He slides onto the couch, curling into his best friend's side and sliding the computer shut. "You need to sleep, Chim," he murmurs, running his hands through Jimin's hair in a way he hopes is soothing.

"When'd you get here?" Jimin asks, and his gaze is so _distant_ that Taehyung wants to _scream_.

"I'm gonna start a VLive," Taehyung states, and Jimin nods, an empty, wooden thing.

It's two in the morning, and Taehyung is _upset_.

"Hey, ARMY," he greets, trying for his normal boxy smile but failing horribly. "You wanna greet the camera, Jiminie?"

"Why did you do this?" Jimin mumbles, voice dull. "It's not... it's not a big deal..."

"It's a pretty big deal," Taehyung smiles, pulling the elder into his side. "Can you translate for the English ARMYs out there, Jiminie?"

"Sure," Jimin murmurs.

"ARMY, you know I'm incredibly thankful for all you've done for us." Pause, wait for translation, continue. "And I'm even more grateful that we're still popular despite everything that's happened." Pause, wait, continue. "But this? Attacking EXO? Shaming Jimin on our behalf? That's not what we want." Pause, suck in a breath while Jimin translates, continue. "Our EXO sunbaenims have worked incredibly hard over the last five years, and our success has nothing to do with them." Pause, wait, continue. "And to you, ARMY, our success came from you. EXO and their EXO-Ls have nothing to do with it." Pause, wait for Jimin to force out words through his tears, continue. "And if Jimin decides to work with EXO, that's his choice. We shouldn't try and force him to do something he doesn't want to do."

Jimin shakes his head, eyes filled with a world of hurt. "Tae..." he murmurs, tears sliding down his cheeks. "You can't do this."

"I can, and I will," Taehyung states. "Jimin's still a part of Bangtan, no matter what."

"T-Taehyungie..." Jimin trails off, eyes going dark. "Please. Don't do this."

"ARMY, I love you," Taehyung smiles, "but I can't let you hurt Jimin. Please, for all of our sakes, stop."

"Shut _up_!" Jimin shrieks, hands reaching up to grip his hair. "You don't _understand_!"

"I understand enough," Taehyung retorts, before his gaze softens. "Jimin, what's this really about?"

"I can deal with the hate," Jimin whispers. "I've dealt with the hate. You shouldn't... you shouldn't have to deal with this."

"How long has this been happening?" Taehyung asks, and Jimin can't quite meet his gaze.

"...since it started," Jimin murmurs. "I'm used to it. It's alright."

"Since it _started_?" Taehyung echoes, eyes widening. "How- _Jimin_!"

"I'm _used_ to it," Jimin repeats, more force behind his words. "It's _alright_."

"This isn't alright," Taehyung snaps, fury blazing in his gaze. "This isn't-"

He inhales, exhales, and bumps his forehead against Jimin's in an attempt to calm himself down. It's... passably successful. "We'll talk about this later."

He waves at the camera, boxy grin firmly in place. "Bye, Dust-Children! Thanks for watching!"

He turns off the camera and leans into Jimin's side, watching as slow tears roll down his cheeks. "I'm here, Jiminie."

"It'd be safer if you weren't," Jimin mumbles.

* * *

They get in trouble, unsurprisingly. 

"Why-" Namjoon cuts himself off, rubbing at the space between his eyebrows. "Why would you _do_ that?"

"Jimin was _crying_ ," Taehyung hisses. "You should have seen the stuff they said, hyung."

"You practically _attacked_ ARMY," Seokjin snaps.

"We've ignored stuff like this in the past," Yoongi points out, and Taehyung flinches. "It's not really different."

"It _is_!" Taehyung protests, and the four eldest members collectively frown. "None of us have been attacked like this before! They've been harassing him all over our videos and chat-boards!"

"Maybe it has happened before," Yoongi snaps. "Maybe it has happened before, and you just haven't noticed."

Taehyung flinches, and Jimin frowns into his cup.

"Everyone, stop," Jungkook mumbles. "This isn't helping us."

"Then what _will_?" Taehyung asks. "What _will_ , Kookie?"

"I could leave," Jimin whispers.

There's a moment of silence before the room erupts with frenzied yells, mostly from Taehyung and Hoseok.

"Not happening!" Taehyung shouts, slamming his hand on the table and rocketing to his feet. "We're not Bangtan without all seven of us! We've learned that again and again!"

"I don't want to bring this hate down onto you!" Jimin protests. "It's not fair to you!"

"You're talking like Yixing-sunbaenim," Jungkook points out, and Jimin withers slightly.

"That's different," Jimin mumbles.

"How?" Jungkook presses. "Because it seems pretty similar to me."

"It just _is_ ," Jimin snaps. "Yixing-hyung would be going to a different county. I'd still be here, I just... wouldn't be able to see you."

"Are you listening to _anything_ we're saying?" Hoseok asks. "We don't _want_ you to leave."

"I don't want to leave either!" Jimin screams. "But if it's best for Bangtan, maybe I should!"

"How the _hell_ do you know what's best for Bangtan?" Yoongi challenges, and Jimin's lithe form shakes with barely-contained anger. "Who are you to say what's best for the whole group?"

"The _oldest_ ," Jimin hisses. "I'm the _oldest_ , Yoongi. And you all _keep forgetting that_."

"Then _act like it_ ," Seokjin hisses. "You're acting like a _child_ , Jimin."

"You're all being irrational," Jimin growls. "I _know_ what I'm doing. I can be a solo artist."

"But do you want to be?" Taehyung asks.

"Of course I don't!" Jimin exclaims. "I want to perform with you guys! I want to have Seokjin-hyung's cooking and make music with Yoongi-hyung and Namjoon-hyung and dance with Hobi-hyung and play games with Tae and Kook, but I know we have to think of Bangtan before ourselves. Because... because I want this to last forever. And if it does... then it's okay if I'm not a part of it."

"You sound like Yixing-hyung," Namjoon points out. 

"It doesn't _matter_ ," Jimin hisses. "Because I'm _right_."

"Who are you to make that choice for the group?" Yoongi challenges. "We're a family. And, last time I checked, stuff this big was decided among _all_ of us."

"The last time you checked was over five years ago," Jimin dryly remarks. "Stuff's changed since then."

"Don't talk back to your hyungs," Seokjin scolds, and Jimin laughs, a high-pitched, hoarse thing. 

"What did I _just_ say?" he laughs, stepping back from the table. "I'm _older than you_. I can talk back to you all the _fuck_ I want."

"Jimin!" Seokjin and Namjoon shout in unison, and chairs scrape on wood as the two stand. "That's _enough_!"

"Why did you have to show up _now_?" Jimin asks, shaking his head. "Now, when things are actually going okay. Now, when _I'm_ finally okay. You just- you just _waltz_ in and break this tower I've spent _five years_ building. And then you expect me to act like that's alright, when you knocked the world out from under me. I've been with EXO almost as long as I've been with you, you know. This isn't _supposed_ to be easy. And it's _not_. So don't act like it is."

"You were ours first," Yoongi hisses. "You were ours longer."

"And I was theirs better," Jimin replies.

He turns and storms out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him as he does. Taehyung watches him go, heart in his chest and tears rolling down his cheeks.

He barely recognizes this Jimin. This angry, cynical, nihilistic Jimin that seems to have been dredged up from the darkest parts of the dancer's soul. This isn't his friend.

"Why?" Jungkook whispers, the word hanging in the air.

It's left unanswered.

* * *

Taehyung waits exactly three hours before following the dancer, yanking an umbrella out of the stand as he leaves. It's going to rain soon, and he doubts Jimin remembered to bring an umbrella with him.

He doesn't exactly have the highest hopes for finding Jimin, but he does dare to hope a little. After all, he knows Jimin.

He walks along the side of the highway, feet squelching in the mud as he stares into the distance. It's raining already, but not here.

Finally, he catches sight of a hooded figure leaning against a tree, and he watches as Jimin pulls the hood down and stares into the distance. Sakura blossoms sit in his messy hair, and he wears a black jacket over mud-soaked pastels. His shoes are ruined with mud, though blossoms sit on top of them regardless.

It's something like a dark spring.

"Jimin?" he asks, frowning at the sky. A raindrop lands on his nose.

The dancer turns, and his lips turn up into some crumpled copy of a smile. "Hey, Tae." 

Taehyung reaches for his umbrella and unfolds it, swinging it up to cover their heads. "It's starting to rain."

"Yeah," Jimin hums.

There's a comfortable silence, broken only by the roaring of cars. It's strangely serene, and Taehyung smiles when Jimin reaches up to grasp the handle of the umbrella as well.

"It's raining," Jimin notes, staring up at the raindrops hitting the umbrella. 

"Yeah," Taehyung grins, sliding his hand off the handle and dancing out from under the umbrella. "It's _raining_!"

Jimin smiles wistfully, propping the umbrella up on his shoulder. "Don't get hit by a car, Tae."

"C'mon!" Taehyung beams, grasping Jimin's arm and pulling him into the grass. The umbrella lands in the mud with a squelch and remains, forgotten.

They run and dance in the rain, and Taehyung smiles each and every second. This, this is what he wants. Idyllic moments like a tree and playing in the rain.

But Jimin's smile has a radiance he'd forgotten, and he _loves_ it.

When they return, they may be dripping wet and covered in mud, but they're happy, and that's truly all that matters.

* * *

If Jimin were an instrument, Taehyung thinks he'd be the piano.

He watches, eyes wide, as Jimin sings, voice flowing through the air and soothing his fears. Because _damn_ , Jimin is _good_.

Jungkook watches next to him, eyes wide as he stares at the singer. Jimin's eyes are shut, and Taehyung's shocked to see the emotions displayed on his face.

Longing, loss, fear.

"It's a weird track," Yixing hums, and Taehyung almost yelps before remembering where they are. "He wrote it a few months ago. Before everything. Actually, I think it was on the way back from the tribute concert."

Taehyung watches as Jimin slides easily into a rap segment, a delighted smile on his face as the words flow from his lips. The raps are in English, so he can't really understand them, but he can feel the emotion behind his words.

"He's really something special," the EXO member muses, a sad smile on his face. "It's not really fair."

"What isn't?" Jungkook asks, eyes widening.

Yixing sighs, shaking his head as he does. "It's sad that someone so bright should be surrounded by so much darkness."

Jimin holds the last note for a moment before closing his mouth, turning to the window and giving the three of them a thumbs-up. He looks so happy and _young_ like this, and Taehyung momentarily wonders how things would have been different if only one of them stayed behind.

If Jimin wasn't left alone.

"Hi!" he exclaims, eyes brightening upon seeing the group. "Um... what'd you think?"

"That was beautiful," Jungkook whispers, and Jimin flushes pink.

"Ah, thank you, Kook," he grins, "but it's nothing special. Really."

"You're something special, though," Taehyung teases, and Jimin's blush deepens to red.

"What did that part mean?" Jungkook asks, eyes wide. "The rap in the middle. It felt different from the others."

"It's actually a mashup of some of our... some of _Bangtan's_ rap segments," Jimin replies, and Taehyung's heart shatters in his chest. "I'm glad it... I'm glad that it worked enough. Our hyungs sure have made some great music, huh?"

"So have you," Taehyung points out, and something in Jimin's expression shuts down. Something he doesn't want to hear, then.

"We'll be late for the show," he smiles, though it's fake and plastic. "Let's go."

* * *

Junmyeon and Namjoon are made team captains, unsurprisingly.

Jimin stands between Taehyung and Jongin, and both of them grab onto his sweater in an attempt to keep him. The two leaders look... almost fondly exasperated, and it's no surprise when Junmyeon's first pick is the dancer between them.

Namjoon's eyes flash in momentary irritation, but he compensates for it by calling Jungkook. The picking continues, and Taehyung's incredibly surprised when Junmyeon chooses him.

The final teams are an even mix of members from both groups, and Taehyung cheerfully introduces himself to the rest of EXO, despite having met before. He, Jimin, and Hoseok are the three Bangtan members on this team, and, coincidentally, they're also the most outgoing.

They're supposed to choose one member for the first game, and their team (democratically) chooses Jimin. He crosses the room and comes face-to-face with Jungkook, and the pair stare down for a moment before Jimin breaks down into a fit of giggles. 

"What're we doing?" Jungkook asks, and the screen behind them lights up with the challenge.

Taehyung, naturally, bursts out laughing.

"Rapping?" Jungkook asks, eyes lighting up.

And, _oh_ , Jungkook knows what he's getting into. He _absolutely_ knows what he's getting into.

But he's never been one to give up without a fight.

He goes first, and it's honestly really good. Jimin even seems impressed, though it's hard to tell what he's thinking thanks to his poker face.

But Bangtan's Rap Line haven't seen Jimin rap live yet, and _damn_ , Taehyung is excited.

Jimin takes the mic, and winks at the camera, a move bordering on flirtatious, before diving into his part. And it's even one of his raps, too. 

Poor Jungkook. 

Taehyung keeps his eyes on Hoseok for the entirety of Jimin's rap, and isn't surprised when, after around three seconds, the elder looks as though he's been visited by the messiah. 

Oh, poor Jungkook.

"Taught him some of what he knows," Chanyeol grins from next to him, and Sehun hums in assent. "He says he learned a bit from listening to Yoongi, Hoseok, and Namjoon's tracks, though."

"He's incredible," Hoseok breathes, spellbound.

Jimin throws the mic in the air with a dramatic flourish, improvising a small dance segment before he catches it, winking at the camera yet again.

 _Jimin_ , is all Taehyung can think. How has the world not been driven insane by _this_ yet?

The first round ends, and it's impossible not to declare Jimin the winner. Then again, there are three rounds, so. Well.

Taehyung's not complaining.

"Draw your next song from the box!" the screen reads, and Jungkook complies, face draining of blood as he stares at the words printed on the card.

"Old Town Road?" Jimin asks, sympathy flashing in his gaze. "Oh, Kook."

"I'll do it way better than you do yours!" Jungkook exclaims, pointing a challenging finger at the elder. "Just watch me!"

"Sure," Jimin laughs, reaching into the box and pulling out a piece of paper. His expression immediately closes down, and he stares to the sky as if to protest the unfairness of whatever is on his card.

"I don't think he'd be comfortable with me doing this," he states, shaking his head. "Can I draw again?"

"These are the rules," the screen displays, and Jimin looks absolutely _dead_.

"What'd you get, hyung?" Jungkook asks, leaning over to glance at the card. Surprisingly, he seems to have a similar reaction to Jimin, and shakes his head. "I'll redraw too, if that works."

"What's on the card?" Hoseok asks, eyes widening in worry. "How bad can it be?"

As if on cue, the screen displays the two song selections, and Taehyung sees _exactly_ how bad this is.

It's Yoongi's song.

Not AGUST D, though that would still be pretty bad. No, this is his song from Wings. First Love.

He understands Jimin's hesitation now.

Yoongi seems _irate_ on the other side, restrained only by Namjoon and Seokjin. "What the _fuck_!" he shouts, and Taehyung can see Namjoon straining to hold him back. "When did I agree to this?"

"Hyung," Namjoon almost pleads, though there's undeniable understanding in his gaze. "Hyung, please."

"No!" Yoongi spits, eyes crazed with fury. "You _can't_ do this, Jimin!"

Jimin squeezes his eyes shut, tears running down his face. "I don't want to do this..." he murmurs, though it's still caught by the mic. " _Please_."

"This is ridiculous," Junmyeon states, irritation flashing in his gaze. "Let him draw again."

"The show is really important to the managers," Chanyeol whispers. "Jimin can't walk out of this."

Jimin scrubs at the tears rolling down his cheeks, lithe frame shaking with sobs. " _Please_."

"Jimin!" Seokjin shouts, his hand over Yoongi's mouth. The smaller rapper shakes his head furiously, eyes glassy and tears threatening to spill. "It's okay. Hyung promises."

Yoongi wails into his hand, falling to his knees like a snake drained of venom. Jimin stares, tears streaming down his cheeks, and woodenly nods.

"I'm sorry, hyung," he breathes, crumpling the paper in his fist. "I'm _so_ sorry..."

Jungkook's up first, and his rap is amazing, as per usual. Still, his voice shakes whenever he looks at Jimin, so he keeps his gaze pinned on the horizon and tries his hardest not to cry.

He fails.

Jimin inhales, exhales, and stares up at the ceiling. When he finally starts, his voice is hoarse, but still somewhat clear despite it.

He makes it approximately ten seconds in before all hell breaks loose.

Yoongi drives his foot into Namjoon's stomach and his fist into Seokjin's cheek, forcing the both of them to release him. The cameras immediately swing away, but Taehyung simply watches in mute horror as he tackles Jimin to the ground, raining punch after punch onto the elder's face.

"Stop it!" Hoseok shouts, wrapping his arms around Yoongi's torso and attempting to pull him off the dancer. Jimin sobs into the wood, blood rolling down his face and bruises mottling his cheeks as he curls into himself, shaking like a leaf. "You've gone too far, hyung!"

Yoongi straightens, panting from exertion as he wipes his bloodied hands on his jeans. "I said not to," he states to nobody in particular. "I said not to..."

Jimin sobs, a hoarse, terrifying thing, and his terrified gaze meets Yoongi's. The rapper's eyes widen, and he seems to understand for the first time exactly what just happened. What he just did.

"Oh," he breathes. "Oh, Jiminie, _fuck_ , Jiminie. I just-"

"Don't," Jimin whispers, tears streaming down his cheeks. "P-Please, hyung. Just... d-don't."

Yoongi shakes his head, and his expression crumbles. "I didn't... _fuck_ , Jiminie, I just..."

" _Don't_ ," Hoseok states, irritation flashing in his gaze. "I'm goddamn serious, Yoongi-hyung. Don't."

EXO's apparently had enough, and Jongdae and Sehun race to Jimin's side, Minseok and Yixing close behind. Jongdae runs his thumbs over Jimin's cheekbones, where bruises are already beginning to form, and almost manages to stop himself from crying.

Jungkook, on the other hand, wails into his hands, comforted by Seokjin. Yoongi seems completely drained and falls to his knees, staring at his bloody hands with undisguised terror.

"What did I just do?" he asks, and Taehyung has to give EXO credit for not punching the rapper. Were Yoongi not one of his best friends and practically his brother, he would.

"Yoongi-hyung..." Namjoon trails off, at a loss for words. 

"I'm sorry," Jimin whispers, curling into a ball. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, hyung, I'm _sorry_..."

He shakes his head furiously and squeezes his eyes shut, a black eye already forming.

And _fuck_ , EXO's mad.

"What was that?" Kyungsoo growls, fury blazing in his eyes as he crosses the room to glare at the rapper. "You _hit_ him."

"What were you thinking?" Yixing demands, hands on his hips and unintelligible Chinese slipping through his lips. "You _dumbass_."

"We're going to have to talk about this," Junmyeon states, and Namjoon nods wordlessly. "We're not just gonna let this slide."

"Nor are we," Hoseok growls, voice cold as ice. 

* * *

Jimin loves TXT.

This much is _immediately_ apparent by the way he leaps at them once they arrive, pulling as many members as he can into a _massive_ hug. 

The bruises on his cheeks as well as his black eye stand out in the bright light, and Soobin and Yeonjun are immediately drawn to them like moths to a flame. The eldest runs his fingers over the dark patches, a frown on his face, and the leader's already pulling something out of his BTS bag and placing it in the dancer's hand.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Jimin beams as Soobin sighs, uncapping the bottle and dabbing some on Jimin's cheeks. "How long has it been since you've seen the others?"

"Where's Yoongi-hyung?" Beomgyu asks, and Jimin's expression shutters shut yet again.

"He's in trouble with management," Seokjin smiles, and it astounds Taehyung how he manages to make Yoongi basically being separated from Jimin and possibly getting suspended from group activities sound so _simple_. "You all have really grown, huh? I hope you're not too busy."

"Not like we were," Soobin smiles. "Thank you for your concern, Seokjin-sunbaenim."

"What did I say?" Jimin teases, dragging the tiniest member (Taehyun) into a side hug. "You can call them hyung! They think you're adorable!"

"You're Taehyun, huh?" Taehyung beams, proffering his hand to the shortest. "I'm Taehyung! How old are you?"

"Twenty-two," Taehyun replies, a small blush covering his cheeks. "It's nice to see you again, Taehyung-hyung."

"That sounds weird," Taehyung pouts. "Just call me Tae!"

"How do we distinguish these two?" Seokjin wonders, and Jimin snaps his fingers.

"You're now V-chi!" he beams, pointing at Taehyung.

"Wah, Jiminie!" Taehyung protests. "I was here first!"

"But Taehyunnie is cuter," Jimin states, and Taehyung squawks in protest. "He's an adorable tiny mochi."

"He's taller than you," Jungkook points out, and Jimin pouts, folding his arms over his chest and glaring into the ground.

"Everyone else is so tall..." he mumbles. "Why am I so short? I'm the oldest... so why am I still so short?"

"I'm taller!" Taehyung exclaims, delighted to be a little bit taller than the younger.

"By one centimeter," Beomgyu laughs, though his expression morphs to a similar sort of sadness when Kai pats his head consolingly. "Yah! Kai, I _know_ I'm shorter!"

"We should form a club," Jimin coos, pulling Taehyun and Beomgyu into a hug. "The tiny members! We can get Yoongi-hyung to join us! And Kyungoo, and Minseok-hyung, and Jongdae-hyung, and Junmyeon-hyung-"

"Calm down," Seokjin laughs. "Yoongi-hyung still has to get out of trouble."

"He has Namjoon-hyung though!" Jimin chirps. "And I mean... It's not... I don't hold a grudge."

" _Yoongi-hyung_ did that?" Beomgyu and Taehyun exclaim in unison, and the rest of TXT snaps to attention.

"Are you okay?" Kai asks, sadness flashing in his gaze. "You should be resting, hyung!"

"We can drive you back to the dorms," Soobin offers, and Beomgyu and Taehyun furiously nod. "You need to rest."

"I'm the hyung here!" Jimin laughs, tucking his hair behind his ear. "And I wanna hang out with my adorable dongsaengs!"

"I'm watching you, Jiminie-hyung," Kai pouts, flicking an unbruised patch of the elder's forehead.

"How did he get hurt?" Soobin asks, and Taehyung frowns, shrugging. 

"Yoongi-hyung jumped him, and he couldn't fight back," he shrugs, and Soobin frowns.

"He's trained in self-defense, though," the leader muses. "Did he let Yoongi-hyung hit him?"

Taehyung opens his mouth to respond, and promptly closes it. He... doesn't have an answer for that, actually.

"Aww, you're so adorable!" Jimin coos, wrapping his arms around Kai's torso. "Such an adorable dongsaeng... the universe has rewarded me for my toils..."

"Hey!" Jungkook squawks, and Jimin simply quirks a brow, pulling Kai closer.

"But he's so _cute_ , Kook," Jimin states, as though it's the solution to life itself. "He's so _soft_."

"So am I," Jungkook mumbles, and Jimin's expression falls imperceptibly.

"I never said you weren't," the dancer points out, and Jungkook smiles, the praise making him happier than it really should.

Jimin keeps his heart locked up tighter now, somehow. It's restrained, the flow of love not as free as it was.

Taehyung misses it.

* * *

Jimin's working on something.

Taehyung keeps prodding him for details, but Jimin apparently doesn't want to spill. All he says is that the something is, in fact, _two_ somethings, and one of them has nothing to do with Taehyung. 

They suspended Yoongi from all group activities for three weeks after the incident. Which is pretty unfortunate, considering it's currently time to write songs for the new albums.

That's honestly what he thinks Jimin is working on, but he doesn't know why it'd need to be a surprise.

Finally, Jimin calls him in for a final review. His studio is homey, dimly-lit and featuring a couch in the corner, as well as cushions, blankets, and stuffed animals strewn about. Posters line the walls, mostly EXO and TXT, though that's likely because of the polaroids taped around his computer. Jimin passes him the headphones, and he listens as the song starts to play, a delighted smile lighting up his face. "That's Jin-hyung!" he exclaims, excitement evident. 

"He doesn't have enough lines," Jimin smiles, apparently proud of the energetic but equally ballad-esque song. "It's the feature track for the album, and I knew I wanted Jin-hyung to sing it the moment I got the concept."

"Does he know?" Taehyung asks, catching sight of the folder the albums are in. _Supernova_ , huh.

"Not yet," Jimin beams, and Taehyung has the fleeting thought that he'd burn the world to see that smile. "But I really hope he likes it."

A sad sort of darkness lingers in his eyes, and Taehyung's about to ask when Jimin supplies the answer. "I... I want to show Yoongi-hyung and Joonie-hyung, but... I don't know. I'm worried they'll hate it. I'm worried I'm not good at this. I mean, it's one thing to be good when half the world is dead, and another thing to be good in _general_. They're good in _general_ , and all I get is... hate. It's just hate."

"You're great at this, Jiminie," Taehyung assures him, and Jimin smiles weakly. 

"What's going on here?" someone asks, pushing open the door to the room. Jimin yelps, falling backwards and onto a conveniently-placed cushion (one of many placed just so, including a post-it with tally marks on it next to a dent in the wall, which Taehyung assumes is the number of times Jimin's hit that spot with his headphones) as Seokjin stares into the room, confusion evident. "What's this?"

"Jiminie's studio!" Taehyung chirps. "I'm ashamed of him, though. Doesn't even have any Bangtan merch for his walls."

"I have polaroids," Jimin mumbles from the floor, voice muffled by the pillow. "That counts."

"In what universe?" Seokjin laughs, the familiar windshield-wiper laugh that they all adore. "Can I listen to that?"

"What?" Jimin squeaks, but Seokjin's already plucking the headphones out of Taehyung's grasp and sitting down, scrolling the track back to the beginning. "Hyung, _no_."

"Hyung, yes," Seokjin counters, excitement evident. "It's called New Dawn, right?"

"Hyung, _no_ ," Jimin all but pleads, though Seokjin's deaf to his words. 

Seokjin starts the song, and Taehyung waits with baited breath as he listens.

One minute passes, then two, then three.

Finally, Seokjin pulls off the headphones, and Taehyung's shocked to see tears glistening in his eyes. "What's this, Jiminie?" he asks, a soft, hopeful smile on his face. Taehyung's almost certain he expects something similar to Butterfly Prologue, and Jimin must think the same.

"It's the featured track," Jimin states, and Seokjin stares at him, apparently confused. 

"But... those are my vocals?" he replies, confusion evident. 

"Well, duh," Jimin grins, and Seokjin seems to be catching on. "Of _course_ they're your vocals. Why wouldn't they be?"

"I don't get parts like this," Seokjin mumbles, and Jimin smiles, conviction evident.

"And that's stupid," he bluntly states. "So I wrote you a song where you get the part you deserve."

Seokjin all but throws the headphones onto the table, rolling out of the chair to tackle Jimin in a hug. "I can't believe you," he sniffs, tears rolling freely down his cheeks. "How did I get lucky enough to have such a great dongsaeng?"

"Dongsaeng-hyung," Jimin teases. "Taehyungie helped me come up with it."

"Dongsaeng-hyung," Seokjin tries, a bright smile already on his face. "So I'm your hyung-dongsaeng?"

"Yep!" Jimin beams, and Taehyung thinks that his smile could bring about world peace. "So you like the song, then?"

"It's beautiful," Seokjin whispers, rubbing at the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Thank you so much, Jiminie."

"Always, Jinnie-hyung," Jimin smiles.

* * *

Taehyung somehow finds himself present whenever shit hits the fan, and today is no exception.

"Hyung, _please_ ," Jimin gasps, racing to keep up with a vehemently power-walking Yoongi. "I just want you to look over some of my tracks and let me know where I need to improve-"

"And I keep _telling_ you, I'm _busy_ ," Yoongi snaps. "Stop _asking_."

"Please, hyung," Jimin pleads. "It'd mean so much to me if you could just look at it-"

" _Stop. Asking_ ," Yoongi hisses, punctuating each word with a horrible amount of emphasis. "Yah, Jimin, what do you want me to _do_?"

"Listen to the track," Jimin simply states. "Like I've been saying."

"Why?" Yoongi snaps. "It's not like I can _help._ "

"You always help, hyung," Jimin whispers. "Even if you don't know it, you always help-"

"Like I _helped_ on the show?" Yoongi growls. "I _punched you_ , Jiminie."

"Yeah. You did," Jimin simply replies. "But, evidently, I _don't care_. Because you're still Yoongi-hyung. So can you listen to the track?"

"You should care," Yoongi hisses. "You _should_ , Jimin. That's not okay."

"I know," Jimin smiles. "But you're way harder on yourself than you deserve. Besides, I let you hit me, so it's at least... fifty percent my fault."

"Jimin, I _tackled you_. That's not your fault."

"I'm trained in self-defense, hyung," Jimin states, and Yoongi freezes. "I had a knife in my boot and a taser up my sleeve and I didn't use either of them. So, really, it's also my fault I got hurt this bad."

"A _taser_?" Yoongi echoes, eyes widening in alarm. "Why do you have a _taser_?"

"I have it right now," Jimin smiles. "It's really cute, actually. It has all the rainbows."

" _Jimin_ ," Yoongi sighs, exasperation evident. "The color's not the _problem_."

"It's not legal, if that's what you're worried about," Jimin hums, and Yoongi audibly groans.

"You're going to get _arrested_ ," he gripes, and Jimin simply smiles angelically. 

"Aww, but I'm too adorable for prison," he coos, and Yoongi sighs.

"What's this track called?" he asks, and Jimin perks up.

"New Dawn!" the dancer exclaims, practically vibrating. "You're one of the first to hear it!"

" _One of_?" Yoongi asks, picking up on the specificity of the phrase. Jimin shrugs, indicating Taehyung who's sorta been lurking awkwardly over his shoulder. 

"He's heard it too," the elder smiles. "And I think he likes it."

(Yoongi does listen to it in the end, and once the video ends, he stares for a minute, a silent tear rolling down his cheek. "Yah," he forces out, apparently trying not to cry. "You've really grown, haven't you?")

("Of course I have," Jimin smiles. "I always wanted to make you and Namjoon-hyung proud of me.")

("Well, you succeeded," Yoongi replies, pulling Jimin into a tight hug. "I'm proud of you, kid.")

(Neither of them comment on Jimin bawling into his shirt, fingers gripping the fabric tight enough to tear, because "I've wanted to hear those words for so long, hyung...")

* * *

"We need to talk about this."

This, being Jimin spending approximately half his time over at EXO's dorm. 

"Why?" Jimin asks, hair mussed and eyes bleary from sleep. "It's fine. I know when it'll be a bad night, and I just head over. It's no biggie. Manager-nim is alright with it."

"But we're not okay with it," Namjoon states, a sort of beleaguered exhaustion that can only come from having _far_ too many meetings. "Jimin... we're worried, okay?"

"Wha' 'bout?" Jimin continues, pouring himself a nearly-overflowing mug of coffee. Taehyung winces at the deep bags under his eyes, and realizes the elder must have returned from EXO's dorm only a few minutes ago. "I'm still kinda asleep..."

"We're worried," Namjoon repeats, and Jimin blinks wearily at him. 

"It's not a problem," Jimin sighs, raking a hand through his hair. "And we have another album coming out in a few weeks, so it's not like I can just ignore them."

"Actually..." Namjoon trails off, and Jimin's expression just. Shuts down. All pretenses of kindness leave his face, and his voice turns stone-cold as he continues.

"You _can't_ make this choice for me," he growls, dark conviction blazing in his gaze. "I'm not leaving Bangtan, and that's what matters, isn't it? So what I do or don't do with EXO is none of your concern."

"Some of the executives want to delay the release," Namjoon sighs, and _wow_ , that was the wrong thing to say.

Jimin's eyes narrow into slits, and his hands ball into fists at his side. "Are you kidding me?" he all but spits, fury laced into his voice. "We've been practicing this album for _months_ , Namjoon. You can't just- you can't just throw away my hard work when it doesn't suit you."

"That's not what we're doing," Namjoon tries, but Jimin isn't having it.

"I know you had some say in this decision, Namjoon," Jimin hisses. "Don't act like you didn't."

"I _didn't_!" Namjoon protests. "They asked me to pass down the decision the managers made!"

"And you couldn't have stopped that," Jimin drawls, a low, drawn-out sound. "I've been working on this album for close to _two years_ , Namjoon. I finished the last song on the plane back from America. You don't _understand_."

"We're the only ones who understand," Yoongi sighs, falling into a chair next to Taehyung. "Us three - excluding Taehyung, who I assume is here for moral support - are the only ones who really understand what it's like to pour your heart and soul into writing a song. And Hobi, of course, but he's not here."

"I came to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now," Taehyung interjects, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Dead meme, Tae," Jimin chastises, and Taehyung grins. 

"Such attack," the singer replies, taking a long sip of his coffee. "Much cruel. So dead meme."

"That's even worse," Jimin wearily sighs, but he can't hide the smile lingering on the edge of his lips.

"I'll talk to management," Namjoon promises, hair messy and face pale from lack of sleep. "It's not fair, and I agree with that."

"Thank you," Jimin murmurs, a soft smile on his lips.

* * *

Taehyung somehow winds up dragged into one of EXO's cuddle days, and he can proudly say he doesn't regret it in the slightest.

It's a soft day, definitely. It's a hot chocolate, pajama, movie and popcorn day. It's a day for family, for spending time with others and hanging up the stage personas for just one day. 

(It's a day without Yixing, but they don't talk about that)

Taehyung can sense it, somehow. It lingers in the quiet, in the too-long pauses between conversations. It feels like someone's missing.

"I still have the halberd," Jimin interjects, and Junmyeon chokes on his cocoa.

"You _what_?" he asks, panic evident in his gaze. "Park Jimin, _tell me_ you didn't bring it across Seoul."

"Well..." Jimin teases, and Junmyeon looks like he wants to _die_. "No. I didn't."

" _Thank_ you," Junmyeon breathes, and Jongin looks incredibly disappointed.

"I expected more from my Chiminie!" he protests, and Jimin snorts into his cocoa.

"Namjoonie-hyung caught him at the door," Taehyung volunteers. "He tried to sneak it out."

"Have you seen the MV, Taehyungie?" Baekhyun chirps, and Taehyung shakes his head. "Oh, we're _watching_ this."

And that's how Taehyung wound up squished between Jimin and Jongin, watching the entirety of their so-called 'saga'. It stretches from a first meeting, with Jimin passing them in a crowd, and then to Jimin saving them, and a few more videos of their bond growing, and finally, Jimin's unfortunate death.

"I still can't believe they killed him off," Jimin deadpans. "Best character in the series."

"Of course _you'd_ say that," Sehun sighs, but he's smiling nonetheless.

Kyungsoo watches the screen pensively, and Taehyung decides there and then that he'll stop trying to read the elder. It's not going to happen.

"Thank you guys," Taehyung states, and eight pairs of eyes snap to his. "For taking care of my Jiminie, I mean."

"Our Jiminie," Jimin pouts, tapping Taehyung's nose playfully. "There's enough Jimin to go around."

"You guys can have as much Jiminie as we do," Taehyung relents, gathering the elder into his arms. "But he's still my best friend!"

"Are we just running a home for displaced Bangtan members?" Baekhyun teases, and Jimin laughs, throwing his head back and curling into Taehyung's torso. 

"I can think of worse things," the dancer replies, eyes glinting with mischief.

* * *

"We have the final song list," Namjoon announces, and Taehyung may or may not scream with excitement.

"Ah, we do?" Jimin asks, trying his damndest to sound disinterested. 

"You _worked on the songs_ ," Yoongi sighs. "You _know this_."

"But they don't know I know," Jimin replies, smiling angelically. 

"We all know," Jungkook interjects, and Jimin wilts. "Unsurprisingly."

"Anyways," Namjoon tries, "the full list is pretty good. We've got New Dawn, Love You, Map Of The Soul: Midnight, Moonlight, Sunrise, Stardust, and a few others."

"So many stars," Hoseok breathes. 

"Sparkles!" Jimin exclaims, waving his hands dramatically.

"Are you guys excited?" Namjoon asks, and Jimin nods furiously.

"Yeah!" Taehyung chirps, excitement evident. He _absolutely_ wants to sing some of Jimin's songs, and even moreso wants to hear _Jimin_ sing some of his songs.

"Jimin's such a sweetheart," Seokjin coos, a soft smile on his face. 

"You're saying that because he gave you more lines," Yoongi deadpans, and Seokjin smiles, resting his head on his hands.

"Well. Maybe."

"What color are we dying our hair?" Jimin pipes up. "Because I think purple looks pretty good on me."

"They're thinking about having you do pink and purple," Namjoon replies, and Jimin preens. "Tae, you'd be doing black and purple, since you and Jimin have a duet on this album-"

" _What_?" Taehyung practically shrieks, eyes widening in excitement. "We have a _what_?"

"Hyung..." Jimin sighs, resting his head on the counter. "That was supposed to be a _surprise_."

"Oops," Namjoon replies, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

"What's it called?" Taehyung asks, bounding over to Jimin's side and catching the eldest's hands in his own. "Can I hear it? What's it about? What's the beat?"

He knows he's acting like a puppy, but he is _excited, dammit_! This is even _better_ than he thought!

"It's called Our Cosmos," Jimin mumbles, a soft blush dusting his cheeks. "It's not... it's not as good as you think it is, Tae..."

"I'm sure it's amazing!" Taehyung chirps. "Everything you make is amazing!"

Jimin's blush deepens and he hides his head in his hands, ears turning bright red. "You can listen to a sample, if you want," he mumbles, fishing his phone out of his pocket and resolutely not looking at Taehyung.

"Really?" Taehyung practically begs, eyes widening. "Can I?"

"Sure," Jimin replies, sliding a pair of headphones onto Taehyung's head. "Here you go."

The soft strumming of a guitar immediately fills his ears, and he shuts his eyes, a contended smile already creeping onto his face. And _oh_ , there's Jimin's voice, and his voice, and _oh_.

_“You may be lightyears ahead-“_

_“And you’re so far behind-“_

Their voices weave into each other as they approach the chorus, and Taehyung feels like he's in heaven.

_“But I swear I’ll always find you, here in our cosmos... our cosmos... I swear I’ll always find you.”_

"Wow," Taehyung breathes, eyes widening in awe. "This is... _wow_."

"You like it?" Jimin asks, a bashful smile on his lips. "The others haven't heard it yet..."

"Not for lack of trying," Yoongi grumbles.

"I love it!" Taehyung exclaims. "I love it love it _love it_ , Jiminie!"

Jimin somehow manages to turn an even deeper shade of red, and he smiles weakly as he buries his face in his hands. "Thanks," he mumbles, words muffled by his hands.

"Don't be so bashful!" Taehyung teases. "You're an incredible producer, Jiminie!"

"Aww, he's blushing!" Hoseok beams, reaching over to slap Jimin on the back. "Do we get to hear it, Chim?"

"I made it using voice-sampler technology," Jimin mutters. "I don't even know if that's how it'll sound..."

"Doesn't matter!" Taehyung chirps, pulling his best friend into a hug. "It's incredible as it is!"

Jimin grins, wiping at his eyes in an attempt to stop tears from flowing. "Ah... thank you, Taehyung..."

"It's true," Taehyung replies. "You're amazing, Jiminie."

* * *

Recording goes as recording goes, and Jimin seems horribly nervous despite Taehyung's assurances that it'll be fine. Jongin and Jongdae came as well (for moral support, the latter claims) and it's strange as usual to see Jimin's easy banter with the two EXO members.

Taehyung's not at _all_ eavesdropping when he lingers around the door, but if he can hear Jimin talking, then that's just a happy accident.

"We're still on to record Reborn, right?" Jimin asks, and Jongin smiles, tousling his hair playfully. 

"You're not escaping this time," he states. "There's at least four tracks with your name on them, and now that we're down... well. Now that Yixing-hyung's not going to be promoting with us, it only makes sense to keep you as close as possible."

"That still happening?" Jimin sighs, raking a hand through his hair. "It's not... it's bullshit, really. I mean, this wasn't a problem for five whole years, and Chinese-Korean relations really improved after reunification. I mean, we're not actively hostile anymore, at least..."

"Junmyeon-hyung is working on it," Jongdae promises. "But there's only so much he can do, really. I mean, with two different states of conflicting affairs... and of course, then you have the two presidents issue... but I think Yixing-hyung should be able to go on tour with us, if the need arises. He's going to record the in-studio version in China and send it to us, and then we'll add it back to the original track."

"Can I even go on tour with you guys now?" Jimin asks, eyes taking on a sort of sadness. "I mean... promoting with both Bangtan and EXO... is that even possible?"

"If there were thirty hours in the day, maybe," Jongin dryly replies. "From what I hear, they're going to record four versions of the track. One is with all ten of us, one is with the nine of us, one is with the eight official members and Yixing, and one is with just the eight EXO members in Korea. It's pretty convoluted, but it basically means people have to learn a lot of extra parts so we can switch them out depending on who's there."

"Sorry..." Jimin sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I wish I could do both, hyungs..."

"It's alright," Jongdae assures him. "We've managed before. 'Sides, who knows? Maybe our tours will overlap sometime!"

"Yeah..." Jimin mumbles, sadness evident. "I don't... I wanna do both, hyungs... but it just... if it's just practice, I could probably miss it to come tour with you, right? I mean... it's not that important, and I could just practice with my spare time..."

"That's not a good idea," Jongdae states, but Taehyung already knows how this ends. "It won't work-"

"It _will_!" Jimin crows, excitement evident. "I'll talk to the managers!"

The door swings open, and Taehyung slides back, hiding around the corner as Jimin races out, Jongin hot on his heels. "Jimin!" the dancer shouts, and Taehyung watches their dark hair disappear around the corner. "Jimin, stop!"

"You heard that," Jongdae states, gaze landing on Taehyung. It isn't a question.

"I know Jiminie," Taehyung sighs. "And I know he'll overwork himself trying to do all this."

"So do we..." Jongdae trails off, expression distant. "We'll watch him, if you guys will do the same."

"Of course," Taehyung immediately vows. "With two idol groups watching him, we'll be sure to keep him safe."

* * *

They really don't manage to keep him safe.

Jimin winds up having to fly back and forth across continents on a regular basis, and his exhaustion visibly grows. It's worst in America, where Jimin has to speak semi-competent English in interviews with Bangtan and EXO, and the rest of Bangtan watches his interviews with EXO whenever possible. Namjoon translates for them, but it's plain to see how tired he is.

Behind-the-scenes footage of EXO's concert videos shows Jimin practicing his dancing for the Bangtan concert mere hours later, movements energetic but undeniably sloppy. There are bags under his eyes that makeup can't _quite_ hide, and he even falls asleep in the middle of an interview. Of course, the other EXO members let him sleep, and it's adorable, but. Well. The problem remains.

Taehyung knows he should be focusing on the music - one of Jimin's songs, Flip The Script, calls for him and Jungkook to rap while Namjoon and Hoseok sing, and the entire group seems to be freaking out over it - but he doesn't. And because the two groups' breaks never seem to line up, Jimin is _always_ working.

He feels helpless, honestly. What can he do?

Finally - _finally_ \- both groups have a day off at the same time. Jimin may have to fly out to Paris the next morning from New York, but they have a day. Just one day, but a day nonetheless.

Jimin sleeps until three, the jet-lag having taken its toll. When he does finally wake up, he's incredibly groggy, and only manages to be coherent enough to down three cups of coffee before promptly passing out yet again.

This time, he passes out on Taehyung's lap.

"This isn't working," Namjoon states as soon as they're certain Jimin is, in fact, asleep. "We've gotta do something."

" _Agreed_ ," Junmyeon's tinny voice floats through the phone. _"But what can we do?"_

"We're letting him sleep now," Namjoon sighs, and Taehyung runs his fingers through the eldest's hair, expression carefully calm. "I mean, it's impossible for him to keep up with all of this."

"He's a force of nature..." Hoseok breathes. "I mean, the only way ARMY even knows something's up is because of his schedule, not 'cause he shows it on-stage."

 _"He'll have to drop something..."_ Junmyeon sighs. _"I'd suggest he drop the EXO tour, which makes the most sense, but without Yixing... I just don't think it'd be good for the others to lose him too. And I'm always going to put the others above you six."_

"He can't drop the Bangtan tour either," Namjoon muses. "He's got a part in almost every song, 'cept Flip The Script, but that's just 'cause he wrote it that way."

 _"I've heard that one,"_ Junmyeon hums. _"Your singing voice is pretty impressive."_

"Thanks," Namjoon replies, and Taehyung spares a glance at the leader to see his blush. "But that's not important right now."

 _"...I could try to persuade the boys to let Jimin out of a few concerts,"_ Junmyeon relents. _"But I'm not sure if it'll be enough..."_

"It's better than nothing," Namjoon replies. "We'll tell him when he wakes up-"

"Fuck you guys," Jimin snaps, bolting to a seated position. His hair is messy and his face red, but his eyes have the clarity of time, and Taehyung's certain he's been listening to all of this. "I can do this. I'm not skipping out on anything."

"Jimin..." Seokjin sighs. "We're worried about you."

 _"Chim... we don't like it either, but please consider it,"_ Junmyeon pleads. _"You can't do anything if you're too exhausted to function."_

"Hyung, I can do it," Jimin repeats, and Taehyung's almost certain he's talking to Junmyeon. "I can. Let me try!"

 _"You've been trying, Jiminie,"_ the leader murmurs. _"We don't want you dead."_

"I won't," Jimin promises. "Just- let me finish out this tour. Please. We can talk about it once we get back to Korea."

 _"...fine,"_ Junmyeon sighs. _"But Namjoon, Seokjin, and Taehyung are going to force you to take breaks. Just like me, Jongdae, and Jongin will."_

"Got it," Seokjin states to nobody in particular, nodding furiously. "We'll do that."

* * *

There's one question that neither group can seem to avoid in their interviews, and with each consecutive query, Taehyung can see Jimin's irritation grow. 

So here they are, for the umpeenth time, answering the _same. Damn. Question._

"So, how has the group dynamic changed with Jimin basically being a part of EXO?" the interviewer asks, and Jimin's eyebrow twitches imperceptibly. 

"I don't think it really has-" Namjoon answers, but Jimin cuts him off halfway.

"What d'ya want me to say?" Jimin asks, irritation evident, before he inhales slowly. "I guess it's similar to your parents separating. You spend time with both of them, but they're both still your family, right? You wouldn't _pick_. And both of them have their quirks, both of them have their strange things, but you love them both. I just... I don't wanna have to choose between my families. Do you understand?"

Now, Taehyung may have only understood half of that, seeing as the answer was in English, but Namjoon's delighted expression speaks volumes. He leans forwards, wrapping his arms around Jimin's torso, and smiles at the camera.

"Cute!" he chirps, and Jimin smiles gratefully.

Some things never change.

* * *

TXT surprises them at their next concert, and they all have the feeling that this happens a lot more than they know.

They're between songs when Taehyung catches sight of Kai and Yeonjun sneaking onto the stage, and the crowd goes wild. Apparently the friendship between TXT and Jimin is even _more_ adorable than that between EXO and Jimin, which Taehyung can understand. After all, despite TXT going for some edgier concepts, they're still adorable. 

They sneak up behind Jimin as he chats with Namjoon and tackle him in a hug, Kai clearly delighted to see him. Jimin yelps, spinning to see who it is, and his eyes soften as soon as he does. "Kai! Yeonjun!" he chirps, pulling the pair into a hug. "Hey, ARMY! Say 'hi' to my favorite dongsaengs!"

"Aww," Beomgyu frowns, emerging from the wings. "Jiminie-hyung, I thought you _liked_ me!"

Taehyun follows him, sparkling eye-shadow glowing in the stage lights. "I thought you didn't have favorites," he teases, and Soobin, who follows, shoots Namjoon a "please-save-me-from-my-favorite-people" look. "Aww, Jimin-hyung, were you lying?"

"Gyunnie!" Jimin beams, racing to the back of the stage so he can tackle the younger in a hug. "Taehyunnie! Scary Soobinnie!"

"I'm not _that_ scary," Soobin protests, a faint smile teasing at his lips. 

"You once yelled at Junmyeon-hyung for hours 'cause Jimin yawned during an MV shooting," Kai deadpans, and Jungkook laughs into his fist. "I think he almost cried."

"Junmyeonnie-hyung doesn't cry!" Jimin protests. "But Soobinnie is scary..."

"I'm not..." Soobin murmurs, hiding his face behind his hand. "I'm really not..."

"You are," Yeonjun states, playfully slapping the leader's shoulder. "You really are."

"Jungkookie-hyung!" Kai chirps, bounding over to the youngest Bangtan member. "Are you proud of me? They call me the Diamond Maknae now!"

"Of course," Jungkook smiles. "I listened to your newer songs. You've really grown."

Kai beams, eyes sparkling. "Make sure to listen to Tomorrow By Together!" he shouts to the crowd, slipping easily into English. "And for all of you MOA out there, we love you!"

"Yah!" Jimin protests, shoving the youngest out of the way. "This is _my_ concert!"

"Don't care!" Yeonjun exclaims, leaping on Jimin's shoulders. The elder laughs, hooking his arms around Yeonjun's legs and hoisting him up so he can wave to the crowd. "ARMY, thank you all for coming! I'll let you in on a little secret - the five of us are ARMY too!"

He pulls out an ARMY Bomb, and the other four TXT members do as well. Taehyung coos, darting forwards to envelop the closest member - a serene-looking Taehyun - in his arms, as does Hoseok. This is adorable.

TXT is adorable.

"Ah, Jiminie-hyung?" Taehyun asks, poking his head over Hoseok's shoulder. "We actually came for a different reason than to express our devotion!"

Soobin's expression momentarily shifts to _pure panic_ before slipping back into familiar nonchalance. "Right. Um."

A vaguely familiar backtrack starts, and Jimin's eyes light up. "Sun and Moon!" he exclaims, and Soobin nods. 

It's a slow, ballet-like number that revolves around duos, and Taehyung will absolutely admit to having studied the song religiously in his free time, if only to watch Jimin dance. This is absolutely his element, and he's excited to watch it on the sidelines.

He _isn't_ expecting Jimin to sweep him into his arms, twirling him around until they're in the center. 

"Partners?" he asks, first in English, then in Korean. 

"Um," Taehyung eloquently replies. "Yes?"

Jimin beams, and behind them, Taehyung can see others pairing up. Hoseok's with Beomgyu, Jungkook with Kai, Seokjin with Taehyun (somehow), and Yoongi and Namjoon are _very_ blatantly avoiding getting involved, so Soobin pairs with Yeonjun. Jimin dips Taehyung, and the younger laughs, sweeping the dancer into a turn. 

"You are my sun," Jimin sings, "my moon, and all the stars between."

The fans scream, and Taehyung beams, twirling Jimin in front of him. 

This. This is fun.

* * *

They make it back to Seoul, and Jimin immediately leaves to grab... something. All the better for them.

Seokjin immediately makes his way to the kitchen and starts to bake, leaving Namjoon and Yoongi to set up the living room. Taehyung helps Hoseok with the banner, and Jungkook waits outside, gaze pinned on the street. Surprises only work if they're unexpected, after all.

Soon enough, TXT arrives, and they bring with them an eclectic mess of food and energy. EXO arrives a few minutes later, and Kyungsoo immediately heads to the kitchen to help Seokjin, leaving the others to take in the dorm. 

"Ah, hyungs!" Kai chirps, poking his head over the back of the couch. "Great to see you!"

Chanyeol's gaze softens as Kai throws himself in the rapper's arms, excitement evident. "Long time no see," he grins, and behind him, Jongin and Baekhyun head for Jimin's room. After all, it's not like they've been here before. 

"I hope you don't mind us intruding," Junmyeon smiles, sitting down next to Namjoon and Yoongi. "We're really not that destructive."

"We are!" Beomgyu shouts from nowhere, and Junmyeon sighs, face draining of blood as he makes eye contact with Soobin.

Behind him, Yixing and Sehun laugh into their hands, and Kyungsoo passes a stopwatch to a pensive Minseok. Soobin quirks a brow as he stares at Junmyeon, and the leader looks terrified as he stares back.

Finally, he stands and leaves, Yeonjun racing over to pluck the stopwatch from Minseok's grasp. "Forty-seven seconds!" he proclaims, and Taehyun groans, passing a bill to Sehun. "I think that's a new record!"

"You can't train for that," Junmyeon murmurs, head in his hands as he stares at the dining table. "You can't prepare for him..."

"I'm not that scary!" Soobin protests, but his words fall on deaf ears. "I'm not!"

Jungkook throws open the door and races inside, slamming it shut behind him. "He's coming!" he shouts, and everyone immediately dives for the floor, Namjoon utilizing hitherto unforeseen coordination to literally _vault_ over the couch and stand next to the light-switch. Huh. So he _can_ do it.

Jimin opens the door gingerly, takeout ramen in his grasp. "I'm home!" he calls, and Namjoon flicks on the light.

"Surprise!" the group shouts, and Jimin's mouth falls open into a surprised 'O'. 

Taehyung's heart melts.

"What- you guys-" Jimin stammers, gaze flitting around the room. "Who's... what?"

"We're here to see you, Jimin," Jongin smiles. "Happy late birthday."

"You're _twenty-nine_ ," Jungkook breathes, shaking his head. "How- you're not _allowed_ to be this _old_! Then I actually have to call you hyung!"

"That's your problem with it?" Hoseok snickers, and Jungkook kicks him.

"I still can't believe you're so old," Yixing admits. "I still remember the little kid I threw a shoe at."

"You threw it in my _face_ ," Jimin deadpans. "It _hurt_."

"I apologized!" Yixing protests. "What more do you want?"

"No shoes," Seokjin states, poking his head out of the kitchen to glare at the pair. "Not unless you're prepared to deal with Namjoon, Taehyung, and Jungkook."

"The last time you two got into a fight, you threw a shoe in dinner," Kyungsoo remarks. "No."

"Wha- hyung!" Jimin protests, and Taehyung laughs. "I didn't-"

"Nope," Seokjin interjects. "Food time."

They all eat dinner together, and it's a casual, happy, calm thing. There's energy in the air, and Taehyung can't _wait_ to see how Jimin reacts to this.

"It's time, right?" Hoseok whispers, and Seokjin nods, heading for the kitchen. Jimin's gaze follows him as he goes, eyes widening as he sees Seokjin enter with a massive cake.

"Happy birthday to you," Seokjin starts, and the others chime in. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Jimin ("Jiminie," "Jiminie-hyung," "hyung," "Chim-Chim") happy birthday to you!"

Jimin sniffles, tears running down his cheeks. "Guys..." he whispers, scrubbing his face in an attempt to stem the tears. "You..."

"We love you, Jiminie," Taehyung whispers. "All of us."

Jimin wails, and the entire group enfolds him in a massive hug, Taehyung and Jongin the closest. "I love you guys too," he sobs. "S-So much..."

Things may not be perfect, or easy, but it's alright. As long as they have these fleeting moments here, these simple moments - they'll be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for reading!!! ^^ lemme know what you think, and if you liked it!! thank you!!
> 
> also i kept typing byeomgyu instead of beomgyu end me


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